


The Shadows of Her Heart

by CrystalHeartZyx



Series: The Shadows [3]
Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: At least I tried, F/M, Follows Main Story, I suck at writing romance, It develops as it goes, Oh look it's still going, The author's notes slowly return, There is no such thing as too many OCs, This needs so much editing, Too Many OCs, Torturing my characters is fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 11:46:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 44
Words: 204,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19250569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalHeartZyx/pseuds/CrystalHeartZyx
Summary: The demigods are now on the quest for the Mark of Athena and the Prophecy of Seven, but underneath Zyanya's host is facing a task just as daunting, requiring her to hurt the people she cares for most, or sacrifice the goddess within her, and consequently the world. Zytaveon is trying to help her, but he doesn't know her secrets or what darkness she holds in her heart. Follows MoA





	1. The Day Hell Broke Loose

**Author's Note:**

> This is the third book of the Heroes of Olympus series with my OCs. If you're stumbling upon this story by accident, I recommend going to read the prequels to this, The Shadows of a Heart and The Shadows Darken or you're going to be very confused. All rights belong to Rick Riordan, I only made my OCs and their storyline.

Third Person: Zyanya

Today was the day hell broke loose. She knew it was coming, and she knew she couldn't stop it. The earth goddess would break apart the Romans and Greeks, and they'd be on the run to Rome. But something else was happening as well. It was the girl's job to mold the boy's heart to their needs. If she didn't, the goddess would be lost, her husband would be lost, and so too would the world. Everything was going to end soon. But the girl was becoming emotional. The goddess was losing her power and her final hope. She could do little but watch as things slipped away in front of her.

" ** _I leave things to you, my host. Now everything lies in your hands._** "

Third Person:

Today was the day hell broke loose. He was so excited. His step-mother had finally sent him to meet his sister once more. It had been so long. He ran across the water at top speed. Whether his father had given him this gift or his step-mom, he didn't care. He loved the adrenaline in his system, the power coursing through his veins and the lightness when he went into speed-mode. His stomach twisted in anticipation as he got closer and closer to his destination. She'd be there! After four, near five years he'd see his sister again. If it were possible, he pushed himself to go faster. The Pacific Ocean was a big place, even at his speed, and she'd be going inland soon. He had to catch her before she made it across the United States.

Today was the day hell broke loose. And Kaze Grigora was going to see his sister.


	2. Greeks, Meet the Romans

First Person: Audrey

"HHHEEEYYY!" I called, waving to the members of the ship. I grabbed Emily's hand and then flew us up to the ship by turning my feet to water to fly. I had to admit, the Argo II definitely didn't look friendly. Two hundred feet long, with a bronze-plated hull, mounted repeating crossbows fore and aft, a flaming metal dragon for a figurehead, and two rotating ballistae amidships that could fire explosive bolts powerful enough to blast through concrete…well, it wasn't the most appropriate ride for a meet-and-greet with the neighbors. The Celestial bronze shields along the rail were enchanted to ward off monsters, and this thing was awesome, even if it did look a bit intimidating.

On the stern quarterdeck, Leo rushed around like a madman, checking gauges and wrestling levers. Most helmsmen would've been satisfied with a pilot's wheel or a tiller, but Leo had also installed a keyboard, monitor, aviation controls from a Learjet, a dub-step soundboard, and motion-control sensors from a Nintendo Wii. He could turn the ship by pulling on the throttle, fire weapons by sampling an album, or raise the sails by shaking his Wii controllers really fast. Even by demigod standards, Leo was seriously ADHD.

Annabeth was pacing on the deck of the flying warship, Piper pacing back and forth between the mainmast and the ballistae, muttering lines to convince the Romans to stand down. I'd forgotten how powerful her charm speak was, and I wanted to stand down, drop my weapons and have a nice long chat. Even after only one week of being without it, I'd lost whatever immunity I'd had to a full blown, Aphrodite charm speaker. Piper was still downplaying her beauty as always, wearing tattered jeans, worn-out sneakers, and a white tank top with pink Hello Kitty designs. Her choppy brown hair was braided down the right side with an eagle's feather.

Jason was standing at the bow on the raised crossbow platform, where the Romans could easily spot him. His knuckles were white on the hilt of his golden sword, but otherwise, he looked calm for a guy who was making himself a target. Over his jeans and orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, he'd donned a toga and a purple cloak - symbols of his rank as praetor. He looked all serious and like a leader, contrary to the regular teenager I'd gotten to know back at Camp Half-Blood. He could be serious when he wanted to, as a son of Jupiter should be, but underneath he was really a nice guy, and in the end, he was still a teenager.

The horns of the camp were sounding, and I realized that flying up here to meet them might not have looked like a good idea from the Roman's perspective. Emily and I landed on the deck anyways. Too late to turn back now.

"Hey!" Emily said. "How've you guys been? Feels like it's been ages, even after just a week. Wait till you guys see New Rome. I mean, it's seen better days after yesterday's battle - fun story, tell you later. Anyway, you guys are finally here!"

"Hey guys," Piper said. "Where are Zy and Veon?"

"Still down there with the senate members," I said. "Oh, I got a trident!" Suddenly there was a large  _BOOM!_ like an explosion, and I realized that Terminus had suddenly exploded into existence onto the ship.

"Unacceptable!" He shrieked. "I will  _not_  have weapons inside the Pomerian Line! I  _certainly_  will not have  _Greeks!_ "

"Terminus!" Emily scolded. "I thought we'd made it clear that  _we_  were Greeks, too! The new praetor is a Greek! You shouldn't judge."

"Terminus, it's me, Jason Grace."

"Oh, I remember  _you_ , Jason!" Terminus grumbled. "I thought you had better sense than to consort with the enemies of Rome!"

"But they're not enemies-"

"That's right," Piper jumped in. "We just want to talk. If we could-"

"Ha!" Snapped the statue. "Don't try that charm speak on  _me_ , young lady. And put down that dagger before I slap it out of your hands!" Piper glanced at her bronze dagger, which she'd apparently forgotten she was holding.

"Um…okay. But how would you slap it? You don't have any arms."

"Impertinence!" There was a sharp  _POP_  and a flash of yellow. Piper yelled and dropped the dagger, which was now smoking and sparkling. "Lucky for you I've just been through a battle. If I were at full strength, I would've blasted this flying monstrosity out of the sky already!"

"Terminus, we have orders from both praetors to stand down and not attack," I said.

"Hold up," Leo said, stepping forward, wagging his Wii controller. "Did you just call my ship a monstrosity? I  _know_  you didn't do that."

"Uh, Leo, Terminus is a god of boundaries," Emily said. "He doesn't like weapons. Trust me, he calls every dagger and sword a monstrosity."

"Jason told us you protect the city of New Rome, right?" Annabeth said, holding her hands up to show she had no weapons. "I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of-"

"Oh, I know who  _you_  are!" Terminus said, glaring at her with his blank eyes. "A child of  _Athena_ , Minerva's Greek form. Scandalous! You Greeks have no sense of decency. We Romans know the proper place for  _that_ goddess."

"Terminus, please be more respectful," Emily said. "Clearly, you've missed the last senate meeting, but we've discussed that there is nothing to suggest the Greeks are currently enemies of Rome. Though they were in the past, this is a new generation of demigods who aren't defined by their ancestors."

"Wait, what do you mean,  _that_  goddess?" Annabeth asked. "And what's so scandalous about-?"

"Right!" Jason interrupted. "Anyway, Terminus, we're here on a mission of peace. We'd love permission to land so we can-"

"Impossible!" The god squeaked. "Lay down your weapons and surrender! Leave my city immediately!"

"Which is it?" Leo asked. "Surrender or leave?"

"Both! Surrender, then leave. I am slapping your face for asking such a stupid question, you ridiculous boy! Do you feel that?"

"Wow." Leo studied Terminus with professional interest. "You're wound up pretty tight. You got any gears in there that need loosening? I could take a look." He exchanged the Wii controller for a screwdriver from his magic tool belt and tapped the statue's pedestal.

"Uh, Leo, you might not want to-" I began.

"Stop that!" Terminus insisted. Another small explosion made Leo drop his screwdriver. "Weapons are  _not_ allowed on Roman soil inside the Pomerian Line."

"The what?" Piper asked.

"The city limits," Jason translated.

"And this entire ship is a weapon!" Terminus said. "You  _cannot_  land!" Annabeth looked down to the valley and her face lit up. She must've spotted Percy.

"Leo, stop the ship," She ordered.

"What?"

"You heard me. Keep us right where we are." Leo pulled out his controller and yanked it upward. All ninety oars froze in place and the ship stopped sinking. "Terminus, there's no rule against hovering  _over_  New Rome, is there?" The statue frowned.

"No…"

"Then we can keep the ship aloft and use a rope ladder to reach the forum. That way, the ship won't be on Roman soil, not technically." The statue pondered this, and I imagined him scratching his chin with his imaginary hands.

"I like technicalities, but still…"

"All our weapons will stay aboard the ship. I assume the Romans - even those reinforcements marching toward us - will also have to honor your rules inside the Pomerian Line if you tell them to?"

"Of course! Do I look like I tolerate rule breakers?"

"Uh, Annabeth? Are you sure this is a good idea?" Leo asked.

"It'll be fine," Emily said. "No one will be armed and we can talk in peace. Terminus will make sure everyone abides by the rules."

"So do we have an agreement?" Annabeth asked. Terminus sniffed.

"I suppose. For now. You may climb down your ladder to New Rome, daughter of Athena.  _Please_  try not to destroy my town." We headed down, a sea of hastily assembled demigods parting for us as we walked through the forum. At the far end of the crowd, I saw Tyson and Mrs. O'Leary, Tyson still wearing his SPQR banner/bib. The demigods made way for Reyna, and I saw her and Annabeth giving each other that look of confidence as though ready to take on any challenge. Annabeth and Reyna were surprisingly similar, forcing looks of courage while holding back a mixture of hopefulness and worry and fear that she couldn't show in public. The others fanned out on either side of Annabeth, and I saw Romans murmuring about Jason.

When Percy walked into vision, Annabeth narrowed in on him and froze. I wasn't Emily and I wasn't an expert on emotions, but from what I can guess, I'd say that Percy's disappearance had made Annabeth miss him more than ever. You love things the most when they're gone, when they aren't promised eternity with you. Seeing him again, Annabeth must've been exploding with joy and shock, if her face was any indication. Meanwhile Reyna straightened, reluctantly turning to Jason. The tension between those two had to be high.

"Jason Grace, my former colleague…" She spoke the word "colleague" like it was a dangerous thing. "I welcome you home. And these, your friends-" Suddenly Annabeth surged forward. Percy began to do the same, and the crowd tensed, many reaching for swords that weren't there.

"Stand down!" Emily shouted. "There's nothing to be worried about." Percy threw his arms around her and the two kissed, lost in their own little world. When they pulled away, Percy studied her face.

"Gods, I never thought-" Annabeth suddenly grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder.

"Saw that coming," I muttered. He slammed into the stone pavement, Romans crying out and some surging forward.

"Hold! Stand down!" Reyna shouted. Annabeth put her knee on Percy's chest, pushing her forearm against his throat.

"If you  _ever_  leave me again, I swear to all the gods…!" Percy, being Percy, laughed.

"Consider me warned," He said, unconcerned. "I missed you too." Annabeth rose and helped him to his feet. Jason cleared his throat.

"So yeah…it's good to be back." He introduced Reyna to Piper, who looked a little miffed that she hadn't gotten to say the lines she'd practicing, then to Leo, who grinned and flashed a peace sign. "And this is Annabeth. Uh, normally she doesn't judo-flip people."

"Have you  _seen_  this girl during sparring practice?" I asked. Reyna's eyes sparkled.

"You sure you're not a Roman, Annabeth? Or an Amazon?" Annabeth smiled and held out her hand.

"I only attack my boyfriend like that," She promised. "Pleased to meet you." Reyna clasped her hand firmly.

"It seems we have a lot to discuss. Centurions!" Emily and I stepped forward, standing at attention. The other Roman centurions hustled forward, and Veon walked up, standing straight as well with Zy at his side. Frank and Hazel came to Percy's side, and Annabeth studied them carefully. Hazel was frowning in Leo's direction. Sammy, right. I'd seen his picture back at Hazel's old place back in Alaska. I had to say, they did strike an uncanny resemblance. And Hazel had said that Sammy's last name was Valdez. Clearly Leo was some kind of descendant, but the odds that he and Hazel would meet were suspicious.

"Tell the legion to stand down," Reyna was ordering. "Dakota, alert the spirits in the kitchen. Tell them to prepare a welcome feast. Emily, Audrey and Zytaveon, you can join us in introducing our guests. And Octavian-"

"You're letting these intruders into the  _camp?_ " Octavian asked, elbowing his way forward. "Reyna, the security risks-"

"We're not taking them to the camp, Octavian," Reyna said, giving him a stern look. "We'll eat here in the forum.

"Oh,  _much_  better," He grumbled. "You want us to relax in the shadow of their warship."

"We could move it, if you want," Emily offered.

"These are our guests," Reyna said sternly, clipping off every word. "We will welcome them, and we will talk to them. As augur, you should burn an offering to thank the gods for bringing Jason back to us safely."

"Good idea," Percy said. "Go burn your bears, Octavian." I smiled, and I could tell Reyna was suppressing one as well.

"You have my orders. Go." The officers dispersed. Octavian shot Percy a look of absolute loathing, giving Annabeth a suspicious once-over before stalking away. Percy slipped his hand into Annabeth's.

"Don't worry about Octavian. Most of the Romans are good people - like Frank and Hazel here, and Reyna. We'll be fine." I suddenly felt this chill run down my neck, and a whispering laughter, almost too faint to be heard, but it definitely was there, and it sent a chill down my spine. I looked to Zy, who nodded. I wondered if she meant that what I felt was real, or whether she had it covered. I hoped for the latter.

"We'll be fine," Annabeth repeated.

"Excellent," Reyna said, turning to Jason, and I felt sorry for her when I saw her eyes seem to brighten at the sight of him. "Let's talk, and we can have a proper reunion." Sets of couches and low tables were carted into the forum until it resembled a furniture showroom, and then the Romans settled in like they would at the dining hall, lounging in groups of ten or twenty, talking and laughing while aurae swirled overhead, bringing an endless assortment of pizzas, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, and fresh baked cookies. The Lares in togas and legionnaire armor were drifting through the crowd (quite literally) and around the edges of the feast, the fauns were trotting from table to table, panhandling for food and spare change. In nearby fields, Hannibal and Mrs. O'Leary played tag around the statues of Terminus that lined the city limits.

Percy was offering to take Annabeth around, just the two of them, which they honestly deserved after eight months being apart, considering they'd been dating for only a few months before his disappeared. I saw Annabeth trying not to stare at Percy's SPQR tattoo. Admittedly it was a little different than the necklaces from Camp Half-Blood, but I found myself liking it. It was kinda cool to be a part of the tough and powerful Roman camp. The Greek camp was friendly and open, without the pressure here in the legion. The legion had more organization and therefore more power, but the Greek's improvisation tactic kept them from being predictable in battle. They were different, but I enjoyed being a part of both cultures.

Reyna called a toast to friendship, and I was glad she was with us on making peace talks. After introductions all around, the Romans and Greeks began exchanging stories. Jason explained how he'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood without his memory, and how he'd gone on a quest with Piper, Leo and Zy's team to rescue the goddess, Hera (or Juno if you want) from imprisonment at the Wolf House in northern California.

"Impossible!" Octavian broke in. "That's our most sacred place. If giants had imprisoned a goddess there-"

"They would've destroyed her," Piper said. "And blamed it on the Greeks, and started a war between the camps. Now, be quiet and let Jason finish." Octavian opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Man, I've missed Piper's full blown charm speak. Emily wasn't bad, but her power over charm speak was a lot more limited without Piper by her side. Emily was powerful though, even without a potent charm speak. Reyna was looking back and forth between Jason and Piper, her brow creasing, as if she just began to realize the two of them were a couple.

"So," Jason continued. "That's how we found out about the earth goddess Gaea. She's still half asleep, but she's the one freeing the monsters from Tartarus and raising the giants. Porphyrion, the big leader dude we fought at the Wolf House, said he was retreating to the ancient lands - Greece itself. He plans on awakening Gaea and destroying the gods by…what did he call it? Pulling up their roots." Percy nodded thoughtfully.

"Gaea's been busy over here too. We had our own encounter with Queen Dirt Face." Percy recounted his story. He started with waking up in the Wolf House with no memories except for one name -  _Annabeth_.

"Wait, so you remembered Annabeth from the beginning?" I asked. "When was I informed of this?"

"He kept it to himself," Zy said. "He had his reasons. He couldn't be sure who she was at the time, but he knew that he didn't want to lose the only memory he had. So he kept it inside. Amnesia is a dangerous thing to toy with, especially if it's all that's keeping you alive, considering Percy's Greek nature in a Roman camp. I'd say he did well enough here though." Percy explained how he'd traveled to Alaska with Frank, Hazel and our team, defeated the giant Alcyoneus, freed the death god Thanatos, and returned with the lost golden eagle standard of the Roman camp to repel an attack by the giant's army.

"Which reminds me, Leo, I needed your help to come up with a name for Polybotes," I said. "He and Alcyoneus were hard to insult, you know. Enchiladas and Porcupine were easy."

"I'd say you don't need one now," Veon said. "You beat up Polybotes already. Audrey freaking made the big guy tumble with one attack, and Percy destroyed him with a plan of using Terminus since he was a god." Jason whistled appreciatively.

"No wonder they made you praetor." Octavian snorted.

"Which means we now have  _three_  praetors! The rules clearly state we can only have two!"

"On the bright side, both Jason  _and_  I outrank you, Octavian, so we can  _both_  tell you to shut up." Octavian turned as purple as a Roman T-shirt. Jason gave Percy a fist bump. Yeah, those two were gonna get along great. Even Reyna managed a smile, though her eyes were stormy.

"We'll have to figure out the extra praetor problem later," She said. "Right now we have more serious issues to deal with."

"I'll step aside for Jason. It's no biggie."

"No  _biggie?_ " Octavian choked. "The praetorship of Rome is  _no biggie?_ "

"He's willing to stand down for someone he knows is more experienced than him," Zy said. "He's a gracious and humble leader. I'd choose someone like him for praetor any day over a self-absorbed, power-hungry, loudmouth who's had one too many cups of caffeine, and whose only power seems to be ruling by fear, manipulation, and half-baked prophecies coming from the murder of innocent stuffed animals." She put her cup to her lips. "Hypothetically speaking of course." She took a drink and Percy moved the conversation on, turning to Jason.

"You're Thalia Grace's brother, huh? Wow. You guys look nothing alike."

"Yeah, I noticed," Jason said. "Anyway, thanks for helping my camp while I was gone. You did an awesome job."

"Back at you." Annabeth kicked his shin.

"We should talk about the Great Prophecy. It sounds like the Romans are aware of it too?" Reyna nodded.

"We call it the Prophecy of Seven. Octavian, you have it committed to memory?"

"Of course," He said. "But, Reyna-"

"Recite it please. In English, not Latin." Octavian sighed.

" _Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall-_ "

" _An oath to keep with a final breath,_ " Annabeth continued. " _And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death._ " Everyone stared at her - except for Leo, who had constructed a pinwheel out of aluminum foil taco wrappers and was sticking it into passing wind spirits, and Zy, who was staring at her drink and swirling it around. Veon, Emily and I weren't concerned, but there was some kind of tension with the others. Frank sat forward, staring at her in fascination as if she'd grown a third eye.

"Is it true you're a child of Min - I mean, Athena?"

"Yes, why is that such a surprise?" Octavian scoffed.

"If you're truly a child of the  _wisdom_  goddess-"

"Enough," Reyna snapped. "Annabeth is what she says. She's here in peace. Besides…" She gave Annabeth a look of grudging respect. "Percy has spoken highly of you." Percy looked down, suddenly interested in his cheeseburger. Uh…did Reyna…? And Percy turned her down for…okay…so that explained the weird tinge of tension and bitterness, maybe even envy in her words.

"Uh, thanks," Annabeth told Reyna. "At any rate, some of the prophecy is becoming clear. Foes bearing arms to the Doors of Death…that means Romans and Greeks. We have to combine forces to find those doors." Hazel picked up a large ruby next to her plate and quickly slipped into the pocket of her denim shirt.

"My brother, Nico, went looking for the doors," She said.

"Wait, Nico di Angelo?" Annabeth asked. "He's your brother?" Hazel nodded. Oh, right, we hadn't told anyone about Nico's going between camps for safety's sake. As far as everyone at Camp Half-Blood was concerned, Nico wasn't involved in our trip to Camp Jupiter. "Okay, you were saying?"

"He disappeared." Hazel moistened her lips. "I'm afraid…I'm not sure, but I think something's happened to him."

"I'm sure going for the Doors of Death alone was dangerous," Veon said. "Not to mention the fact that he went alone. He should've gone with backup, or he should've just waited for us. I had some dreams, and they've shown him in Tartarus before he was captured by Gaea's forces. Dirt Face herself confirmed that she'd captured him, and I worry what she has planned for him."

"We'll look for him," Percy promised. "We have to find the Doors of Death anyway. Thanatos told us we'd find both answers in Rome - like, the  _original_  Rome. That's on the way to Greece, right?"

"Thanatos told you this?" Annabeth asked. "The death god?" Percy took a bite of his burger.

"Now that Death is free, monsters will disintegrate and return to Tartarus again like they used to. But as long as the Doors of Death are open, they'll just keep coming back."

"At least we've slowed the process immensely," Veon said. "The Doors of Death are obviously limited, so Gaea's now got some sorting to do if the Doors are the only way to get dead monsters back to the living world. It's still a dangerously effective method, but at least monsters aren't instantly coming back the moment you kill them. Still, we leave the Doors open, and monsters can return eventually." Piper twisted the feather in her hair.

"Like water leaking through a dam," She suggested. I smiled.

"Yeah, we've got a dam hole," Percy and I said together.

"What?"

"Nothing, inside joke," We said before looking to each other. "Stop that. Stop it. No, you stop it." Both of us were quiet for a moment. "Thank you. Stop that!"

"Okay, seems you two are getting along great," Zy said. "The point is, you'll have to find the doors and close them before we can head to Greece. It's the only way we'll stand a chance of defeating the giants and making sure they  _stay_  defeated." Reyna plucked an apple from a passing fruit tray, turning it in her fingers, studying the dark red surface.

"You propose an expedition to Greece in your warship. You do realize that the ancient lands - and the Mare Nostrum - are dangerous?"

"Mary who?" Leo asked.

"Mare Nostrum," Jason explained. " _Our sea_. It's what the Ancient Romans called the Mediterranean." Reyna nodded.

"The territory that was once the Roman Empire is not only the birthplace of the gods. It's also the ancestral home of the monsters, Titans and giants…and worse things. As dangerous as travel is for demigods here in America,  _there_  it would be ten times worse."

"You said Alaska would be bad," Percy reminded her. "We survived that." Reyna shook her head, her fingernails cutting little crescents into the apple as she turned it.

"Percy, traveling in the Mediterranean is a different level of danger altogether. It's been off limits to Roman demigods for centuries. No hero in his right mind would go there."

"Then we're good!" Leo said, grinning over the top of his pinwheel. "Because we're all crazy, right?"

"He's got a point there," I said.

"Besides, the Argo II is a top-of-the-line warship. She'll get us through."

"And my team is joining you for that exact purpose," Zy said. "Our job is to protect you and make sure this Great Prophecy comes to pass. This war threatens the gods, and so I am taking the initiative instead of sitting and hoping for the best."

"We have to hurry," Jason added. "I don't know exactly what the giants are planning, but Gaea is growing more conscious all the time. She's invading dreams, appearing in weird places, summoning more and more powerful monsters. We have to stop the giants before they can wake her up fully." Annabeth shuddered at the thought.

" _Seven half-bloods must answer the call,_ " She said. "It needs to be a mix from both our camps."

"Jason, Piper, Leo and Annabeth are four," Emily said. "And then Percy, Hazel and Frank. That's seven. Our team doesn't count, so it makes sense."

"What?!" Octavian asked, shooting to his feet. "We're just supposed to  _accept_  that?! Without a vote in the senate?! Without proper debate?! Without-?!"

"There's no time," Zy said. "Besides, what you humans assume is the proper seven may not be who the seven  _actually_  are. If you need godly override, here I am. These are the seven of the Great Prophecy: Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque, and Frank Zhang. Are we clear? Now please, be a dear and shut your mouth."

"Percy!" Someone called. Tyson the Cyclops bounded toward us with Mrs. O'Leary at his heels, and on the hellhound's back was Ella the harpy. Tyson stopped by our couch and wrung his meaty hands, his big brown eye full of concern. "Ella is scared."

"N-n-no more boats," The harpy muttered to herself, picking furiously at her feathers. " _Titanic, Lusitania, Pax_ …boats are not for harpies." Leo squinted and looked to Hazel who was seated next to him.

"Did that chicken girl just compare  _my_  ship to the  _Titanic?_ "

"She's not a chicken," Veon said, Hazel averting her eyes from Leo. "Ella's a harpy. She's just a little…high-strung."

"Ella is pretty," Tyson said. "And scared. We need to take her away, but she will not go by ship."

"No ships," Ella repeated. She looked straight to Annabeth. "Bad luck. There she is.  _Wisdom's daughter walks alone-_ "

"Ella!" Frank said, standing suddenly. "Maybe it's not the best time-"

" _The Mark of Athena burns through Rome,_ " Ella continued, cupping her hands over her ears and raising her voice. " _Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants' bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail._ " Veon's glass cup suddenly shattered, and he was staring at the table in shock. Zy quickly grabbed the shards and took his hand, muttering things quietly to him. Everyone else was in our cluster was silent, even though the sounds of the feast continued around us.

"I know," I said quickly. "How about you take Ella to get some fresh air? You and Mrs. O'Leary-"

"Hold on," Octavian said, gripping one of his teddy bears, strangling it with his shaking hands as he fixed his eyes on Ella. "What was that she said? It sounded like-"

"Ella reads a lot," Emily blurted. "We found her at a library. That was probably just something she read in a book."

"Books," Ella muttered helpfully. "Ella likes books." Now that she'd said her piece, the harpy seemed more relaxed, sitting cross-legged on Mrs. O'Leary's back, preening her wings.

"That was a prophecy," Octavian insisted. "It sounded like a prophecy."

"Anything could be a prophecy to you, huh?" Zy said casually. "Seriously, you humans would find a Shakespearian sonnet a prophecy."

"Really Octavian?" Annabeth asked, forcing out her casual tone. "Maybe harpies are different here, on the Roman side. Ours have just enough intelligence to clean cabins and cook lunches. Do yours usually foretell the future? Do you consult them for your auguries?" Her words had the intended effect as the Romans officers laughed nervously. Some sized up Ella, and then looked to Octavian before snorting. Apparently the idea of a chicken lady issuing prophecies was just as ridiculous to Romans as it was to Greeks.

"I, uh…" Octavian stuttered, dropping his teddy bear. "No, but-"

"She's just spouting lines from some book," I said. "Besides, don't we already have a  _real_  prophecy to worry about?" Annabeth turned to Tyson.

"Audrey's right. You should take Ella and Mrs. O'Leary and shadow-travel somewhere for a while. Is Ella okay with that?"

"'Large dogs are good,'" Ella said. " _Old Yeller_ , 1957, screenplay by Fred Gipson and William Tunberg."

"Great!" Percy said. "We'll Iris-message you guys when we're done and catch up with you later." The Romans looked to Reyna, waiting for her ruling. Reyna had an excellent poker face, studying Ella.

"Fine," The praetor said at last. "Go."

"Yeah!" Tyson said, going around the couches and giving everyone a big hug - even Octavian, who didn't look happy about it. Then he climbed on Mrs. O'Leary's back with Ella, and the hellhound bounded out of the forum. They dove straight into a shadow on the Senate House wall and disappeared.

"Well," Reyna said, setting down her uneaten apple. "Octavian is right about one thing. We must gain the senate's approval before we let any of our legionnaires go on a quest - especially one as dangerous as you're suggesting."

"Right, Romans and their senates," Zy muttered.

"This whole thing smells of treachery," Octavian grumbled. "That trireme is not a ship of peace!"

"Come aboard, man," Leo offered. "I'll give you a tour. You can steer the boat, and if you're really good, I'll give you a little paper captain's hat to wear." Octavian's nostrils flared.

"How dare you-?!"

"It's a good idea," Reyna said. "Octavian, go with him. See the ship. We'll convene a senate meeting in one hour."

"But…" Octavian stopped. Apparently he could tell from Reyna's expression that further arguing would not be good for his health. "Fine." Leo stood, and just for a moment, I swore I saw someone else standing in Leo's place, smiling coldly with a cruel light in his eyes. I blinked and Leo was just regular old Leo again, with his usual impish grin.

"Back soon," He promised. "This is gonna be epic."

"Uh, I'll go with them," I said. "I'll watch over them, for hopefully obvious reasons." I joined them in climbing up the rope ladder. Whatever was happening to Leo couldn't be a good omen. We were walking onto a warship that Leo is an expert at controlling. If Gaea intervened during today, everything between the Greeks and Romans will come crumbling down. With Octavian here, he'll probably fire the ballistae then blame it on the Greeks just to start the war. Maybe Octavian was working for Gaea, or she's been silently influencing him without his knowledge. And whatever's happening to Leo…well, it wouldn't be wise to leave these two alone on an armed warship during shaky peace talks.

All I could hope was that I'd be enough to stop things from happening. It was clear that Zy understood the situation, but even her override seemed shaky when things were going so sideways. We needed to just go on the quest, who cares about senate meetings? The threat is right there in front of them. Weren't Romans the kind of people that attacked first, asked questions later? We needed to move right now before anything got worse between Greeks and Romans. Romans and their rules. If we could just leave on this high note, the war with Gaea would be so much easier already. Of course, the curse of a demigod continues, and it was never going to be that simple.


	3. Peace Talks Go Wrong

First Person: Lucy

"What did you see?" I asked. As Ella had recited her prophecy, Veon had begun to see some kind of vision. He hid it well without even thinking about it, but he'd broken his cup when it had happened. It seemed to have begun when Ella had said, " _Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death_."

"A jar," He said. "He's in a jar. Gods…he's dying. Only his pomegranate seeds from Persephone's garden are keeping him alive. I gave him mine, giving him maybe eight in all." He dug through his pockets. "They're gone. I hope that means he got them. Zy…I could  _feel_  the poisonous air, the panic as he barely got one of the seeds into his mouth. " _Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death_ "…it's Nico. We need to save him. We  _have_  to. If we don't…it feels like a part of me is going to die too."

"That's only natural. You have a soul bond. Do either of you know where he is?"

"No. Only that he woke in that jar. He's bait, we both know it. We were stupid for going to Tartarus and thinking we could find the Doors of Death all on our own and now…" He buried his face in his hands and I instinctively wrapped my arms around him.

"Shh…it's okay. We will find him, Ve, I promise."

"Gods, it's just so frustrating! I don't know where he is, but I know that he's dying!"

"Look, I understand. That feeling twisting your gut and weight in your chest like you've just been punched. The pain won't go away, and there's nothing you can do about it. I understand; I hear you. But right now, we need to focus. We need to get moving on the quest and get to Rome and Greece. He's bait, and whether we're walking into a trap or not, we will do it if it means saving your brother. I promise on the River Styx, I will do everything in my power to save Nico di Angelo. But we need to keep our heads on straight. The worst is yet to come, and it's going to be a long journey." He stared at me for a moment before nodding.

"Right."

"Okay. Let's get back out there, okay?" He nodded again and we walked out of the Senate House. Jason and Piper were heading off on a tour of New Rome, while Reyna was talking with Annabeth at the Garden of Bacchus.

"Oh, that reminds me that I need to go and get something."

"What?"

"Can't tell. Be right back." He kissed me on the cheek before hurrying away. It was still weird to think that we were dating. I'm not sure how I should feel. Should I be more loving to him? Should we just act like normal and just occasionally kiss here and there? How did people do this? The goddess's knowledge wasn't helpful considering she was loyal only to her husband and they already had things worked out between them. They were practically incapable of messing up when it came to their relationship since they were Primordials and apparently bonded for life. No matter how much they argued or disagreed, they couldn't ever get mad at each other, and even if they did in a light way, they always made up within 24 hours. Maybe I should watch the other demigods in their relationships and see how that went.

My senses suddenly went on high alert before I held up my arm in instinct and summoned a large barrier above the forum. Just in time, too, as an explosion hit the barrier, having nearly blasted a crater in the forum. Panic broke loose, the peaceful mood shattered in an instant. I blocked a second attack that was going for the Senate House and realized the attacks were coming from the Argo II. Dammit. I knew it was coming, but it was still infuriating. We were  _just_  beginning to work our peace between Greeks and Romans. And that's why Gaea  _had_  to intervene. Crowds began pushing and shoving, the Greeks were instantly singled out, including Jason, and most people were running around in panic. Despite my blocking the majority of the damage, the ground still rumbled from the force of the attacks on my barrier.

The Roman demigods in the forum had coalesced into an angry mob. Some threw plates, food, and rocks at the Argo II, which was pointless, as most of the stuff fell back into the crowd. Several dozen Romans had surrounded Piper, Jason and Emily, who were trying to calm them with little luck. Even Piper's charm speak wasn't working against so many screaming, angry demigods. Emily was protecting them from any projectiles thrown their way, and she was singing as loudly as she could over the chaos, managing to calm a few people, but only aggravating others because they were thinking it was a part of the attack. Jason was pleading that he was on the Roman's side, but his orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt didn't help much, nor did the warship overhead, firing flaming spears into my barrier that was shimmering and pulsing under the assault.

Hundreds of ghosts were drifting though the forum, passing straight through the demigods' bodies and wailing incoherently. The fauns had also taken advantage of the chaos, swarming the dining tables, grabbing food, plates, and cups. One trotted past me with his arms full of tacos and an entire pineapple between his teeth. Terminus exploded into being, yelling at Annabeth in Latin, calling her a liar and a rule breaker, etc, but she pushed the statue over and kept running. She ran over to Percy, Hazel, and Frank, who were standing in the middle of a fountain, keeping the Romans away with a barrier of water.

"Eidolons," I muttered. "It  _had_  to be eidolons!" Reyna ran up to me with her dogs, muttering many Latin curses. "Reyna, this is the work of eidolons. Look it up if you have to, but right now we need to act. Help calm the crowds. I must take the seven of the prophecy with me on the quest, along with my team." Aurum and Argentum snarled, but didn't attack, signaling I was truthful.

"We'll never be able to convince the Romans that this isn't the result of Greek trickery," Reyna said.

"We have no choice but to try. Blame it on us if you want, but we need to get out of here right now. Try suggesting that this is the work of Gaea so that the Greeks and Romans can never get along. This happened right amidst peace talks. It should provide a valiant argument. I'm sorry, Reyna, but we're going to have to leave this in your hands." There was a flash of light directly overhead, and I saw that one of the Roman catapults had fired, the Argo II groaning and tilting sideways, flames bubbling over the bronze-plated hull. I cursed under my breath and waved my hand, locking down that catapult so it couldn't fire again. I saw Octavian dangling from the rope ladder, trying to climb down. His robes were steaming and his face was black with soot. We needed to get the others out of here now. I hurried over to Percy, Frank, and Hazel, where Annabeth was joining up with them too.

"Annabeth, what-?" Percy called.

"I don't know!" She yelled.

"I'll tell you what!" Octavian called, having reached the bottom of the ladder. "The Greeks have  _fired_  on us! Your boy Leo has trained his weapons on Rome!"

"Silence!" I shouted. "This is the work of Gaea! She wants to make it so that Greeks and Romans never get along, and this is clearly her attempt at doing so! If anything,  _you_  did this!" I shouted loud enough to make sure plenty of Romans heard my announcement. "You've been talking of how the Romans shouldn't trust the Greeks from the beginning! You  _want_  a war between Greeks and Romans, so  _you_  did this to set them against each other! Maybe  _you're_  working for Gaea!" Suddenly the Argo II fired upon the catapults that were blasted to splinters. I shielded the legionnaires at the catapults and when the dust settled, they realized they were safe. I dropped them a safe distance away and then turned my attention to blocking the Argo II's attacks once more.

"We have to leave," Annabeth said.

"Agreed," I said. "Hazel, Frank, you have to make a choice. Are you coming?" Hazel looked terrified, but she donned her cavalry helmet.

"Of course we are," She declared. "But you'll never make it to the ship unless we buy you some time."

"How?" Annabeth asked. Hazel whistled and Arion suddenly shot across the forum to us. He reared, whinnying and scattering the mob. Hazel climbed on, grabbing her cavalry sword that was strapped to the horse's saddle.

"Send me a message when you're safely away and we'll rendezvous. Arion, ride!" The horse zipped through the crowd with incredible speed, pushing back Romans and causing even more panic.

"Romans, please!" Jason was shouting. He, Piper, and Emily were being pelted with plates and stones. Emily was working to block them with her invincibility, but then Jason tried to shield Piper from a brick that caught him above the eye. He crumpled and the crowd surged forward.

"Stop!" Emily shouted, now genuinely angry. Suddenly the crowd around them paused, some of them even collapsing wide-eyed. "You. Will. All.  ** _STOP!_** " Her words pulsed across the forum, and her influence caused everyone to slow down or freeze, as though they'd forgotten what was going on, or had suddenly seen the love of their lives. And  _that_  was why I'd chosen her for my team.

"Frank, go and help them!" I ordered. "Percy, Annabeth, make it for the ladder!" They nodded and rushed off. More people were rushing into the forum, snapping some of the others out of their dazes, and people were still running about in chaos. Octavian was still clinging to the bottom of the ladder, but Percy yanked him off and threw him to the crowds while he and Annabeth began to climb. Armed legionnaires flooded into the forum, and some tried to fire arrows at Percy and Annabeth. I created a shield around them, and I saw Veon climbing the ladder behind them with a bow and quiver slung across his back. Romans screamed and scattered as a full-sized dragon charged through the forum - a beast even scarier than Festus himself. It had rough gray skin like a Komodo lizard's and leathery bat wings. Arrows and rocks bounced harmlessly off its hide as it lumbered towards Piper, Jason and Emily. Emily quickly jumped on its back while it grabbed Piper and Jason with its front claws and vaulted into the air. Frank was certainly getting the hang of this.

I worked with Hazel to stop any archers and attackers from stopping Percy, Annabeth and Veon. The Argo II had stopped firing upon the city, and I remembered that Audrey had come along with Leo and must've stopped him. Once the others had made it on board, I flew up and then focused my barrier on protecting the Argo II, as the archers were preparing flaming arrows and Terminus's statues were glowing purple in preparation for an attack. Some aerial oars were broken, the rigging was on fire, the foresail was ripped down the middle, and the ship listed badly to starboard. There was no sign of Coach Hedge, who had stayed on the ship, but Audrey was wrestling Leo, trying to hold him down.

"Stop it Leo!"

"Destroy them…" He muttered. His eyes were glazed and he was pretty calm as he fought Audrey to reload the ballista. "Destroy them all." Percy tackled him, and Leo's head hit the deck hard, his eyes rolling up so that only the white showed. Eidolons, all right. Frank the dragon circled above deck before depositing Jason and Piper, who both collapsed. Emily hopped off and then went to the railing of the Argo II, seeing the chaos and focusing to slow down some of the attacking forces. I ran to the controls and frantically worked them. No time for proper routine. I grabbed the aviation throttle and yanked it straight back.

"Hold on!" The ship groaned and the bow tilted up at a horrifying angle. The mooring lines snapped, and the Argo II shot into the clouds.

* * *

First Person: Zytaveon

Well this day couldn't have gone better. Can you sense the sarcasm? I knew things between the Romans and the Greeks were gonna be tense, and I knew Gaea was going to interfere somehow. This was the perfect opportunity to frame the Greeks for attacking the Romans, after all. All around us, Leo's new ship was ruined. I had kinda hoped that we'd at least have it in mint condition for the  _beginning_  of this long and dangerous quest, but nope. The aft crossbows were piles of kindling, the foresail was tattered, and the satellite array that powered the onboard Internet and TV was blown to bits (which had really made Coach Hedge mad, as he had been watching something previously). Festus's bronze figurehead was coughing up smoke like he had a hairball, and the ship was groaning from some of the aerial oars having been knocked out of alignment or broken off completely. It also explained why the ship was listing and shuddering as it flew, the engine wheezing like an asthmatic steam train.

We were now interrogating Leo and Audrey (though mostly Leo), who were looking totally guilt ridden upon what happened.

"One more time," Annabeth demanded. "Exactly  _what_  happened?" Annabeth was giving a glare of hers that would've had the spirits in the Underworld running in terror.

"Annabeth, we shouldn't push them," Emily said, pretty wiped out from her stunts back at New Rome.

"I don't know," Leo said. "It's fuzzy." Annabeth crossed her arms.

"You mean you don't remember?"

"I…I remember, but it's like I was watching myself do things. I couldn't control it."

"He must've been influenced by something," I said. "Gaea's whispered into the ear of the Queen of the Gods before. At least, Khione did, and she's still at large. What are the odds she did some kind of manipulation on Leo too?"

"Consider that all Khione can do is whisper into one's ear," Zy said. "She can't necessarily control someone, not like this. However, I do agree that Gaea has some kind of controllers that took over you, Leo."

"Leo was just showing us around the ship with Octavian looking ticked every time he made a joke when suddenly Leo began firing the ballista," Audrey said. "Octavian went running off screaming while I tried to stop Leo. I should've been able to stop him, but I was worried I'd kill him by accident if I tried using my powers on his blood. I should've stopped him earlier, before so much damage had been done. Sorry."

"It's not your fault, Audrey," Zy said. "I don't believe its Leo's fault either. This is the work of Gaea. Consider how perfect the timing was. We were trying to make peace talks between the Greeks and Romans, the very thing that will allow us to defeat Mrs. Dirt Face. Now there's little to no chance of the Greeks and Romans getting along, therefore defeating Gaea becomes ten times harder." Coach Hedge tapped his bat against the deck. In his gym clothes with his cap pulled over his horns, he almost looked like a normal P.E. teacher. The way he was glowering at Leo, I wondered if he was going to order him to do push-ups.

"Look, kid," Hedge said. "You blew up some stuff. You attacked some Romans. Awesome! Excellent! But did you  _have_  to knock out the satellite channels? I was right in the middle of watching a cage match."

"Coach, why don't you make sure all the fires are out?" Annabeth suggested.

"But I already did that."

"Do it again." The satyr trudged off, muttering under his breath. Even Hedge wasn't crazy enough to defy an angry Annabeth. She knelt next to Leo, her gray eyes as steely as ball bearings. I don't know where the stereotype of dumb giggly blondes came from. Annabeth was a bad-ass, tough, smart, and dangerous girl, one I could totally appreciate.

"Leo," She said calmly. "Did Octavian trick you somehow? Did he frame you, or-?"

"No," Leo said. "The guy was a jerk, but he didn't fire on the camp. I did." Frank scowled.

"On purpose?"

"No!" Leo squeezed his eyes shut. "Well, yes…I mean, I didn't want to. But at the same time, I  _felt_  like I wanted to. Something was making me do it. There was this cold feeling inside me-"

"Cold feeling?" Annabeth asked, her tone almost…scared.

"Like a chill down your spine?" Audrey asked.

"Yeah," Leo said. "Why?"

"Annabeth, we need you," Percy called from below deck. Jason, I remembered. As soon as they'd gotten on board, Piper had taken Jason below. The cut on his head looked pretty bad, and Emily looked guilty for not being able to block such a big hit from him. She was just one person trying to protect two from an angry mob, one of them being a good deal taller than her. It wasn't her fault.

"He'll be fine," Zy said. "I'll go down and see if I can work some Apollo magic on him. Annabeth?" The two women left, leaving Frank, Audrey, Emily and I to watch over Leo. Frank looked pretty odd in his toga, with his gray pullover hoodie and jeans, and a bow and quiver from the ship's armory slung over his shoulder.

"So, your name isn't Sammy?" Frank asked. Leo scowled in confusion.

"What kind of question is that?"

"Nothing," Frank said quickly. "I just…nothing. About firing on the camp…Octavian could be behind it, like magically or something. He didn't want the Romans getting along with you guys. Maybe he really is working for Gaea."

"Give him the benefit of the doubt," Emily said. "He does want to protect Rome. He just wants to be some kind of leader in the process. He's a bit of an extremist, but in the end, he might just be a victim of circumstance. I think Octavian does have a very aggressive way of thinking, and I'd say Reyna is much wiser in leading, but I also believe that he wants the best for Rome, even if he's a bit mistaken in his path to protecting it. He may not know that he's working for Gaea if he is. Leo said there was something making him do things without his consent, and even though he was conscious during the event in question, he couldn't stop himself. Maybe the same thing is happening to Octavian. He  _would_  make a good servant if her goal was to divide the Greeks and Romans."

"True," Audrey said. "When you put it that way, you can kinda feel bad for the guy. He's just caught in the middle of Gaea's plans. She's pushing his drive to protect Rome to an extreme extent or something like that." I noticed Leo's hands fidgeting and his foot tapping. Right, he was a mechanic demigod. His ADHD must not help with the fact that he always needed to keep his hands busy. Considering the state of the ship, it might be best to get Leo's mind off what happened. Kill two birds with one stone.

"Leo, do you think Festus could give us a damage report?" I asked.

"Sure."

"Who is Festus?" Frank asked.

"My friend," Leo said. "His name isn't Sammy either, in case you're wondering. Come on; I'll introduce you." Thankfully, the bronze dragon wasn't damaged (aside from the fact that last winter he'd lost everything except his head, but that didn't count). When we reached the bow of the ship, the figurehead turned 180 degrees to look at us. Frank yelped and backed away.

"It's alive!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah," Leo said, looking down. I knew he would've laughed and cracked some joke, but even he wasn't in the mood at the moment. "Frank, this is Festus. He used to be a full bronze dragon, but we had an accident."

"You have a lot of accidents."

"Well, some of us can't turn into dragons, so we have to build our own."

"In the life of a demigod, Frank, accidents are the new normal," I said.

"Anyway, I revived him as a figurehead. He's kind of the ship's main interface now. How are things looking, Festus?" Festus snorted smoke and made a series of squeaking and whirring sounds. Apparently Festus and Leo had some kind of made of machine language between them. Other demigods could understand Latin and Greek. Leo could speak Creak and Squeak. It was a kind of dialect, so my language abilities were still trying to interpret them. The more experience I had with a language, the faster my powers seemed to adjust, and from what I could tell, there were a lot of problems with the ship.

"Ugh," Leo muttered. "Could be worse, but the hull is compromised in several places. The port aerial oars have to be fixed before we can go full speed again. We'll need some repair materials: Celestial bronze, tar, lime-"

"What do you need limes for?" Frank asked.

"Dude,  _lime_. Calcium carbonate, used in cement and a bunch of other - Ah, nevermind. The point is, this ship isn't going far unless we can fix it." There was suddenly a crash of thunder and we turned to see Zoltan on the ship.

"Oh, hey, boy." I walked over and petted him.

" _Arion and his rider are following behind across the water. I am hungry. You have food?_ " I pulled a gold nugget out of my pocket and let him eat it.

"Hazel's following behind us," I translated.

"Hazel? That's the girl with the curly hair, right?" Leo asked.

"Is she okay?" Frank asked.

"She's fine," I said. "It's just that Zoltan can teleport and Arion can't."

"Then we've got to land." Leo studied him.

"She's your girlfriend?" Frank chewed his lip.

"Yes."

"You don't sound sure."

"Yes. Yes, definitely. I'm sure." Leo raised his hands.

"Okay, fine. The problem is we can only manage one landing. The way the hull and the oars are, we won't be able to lift off again until we repair, so we'll have to make sure we land somewhere with all the right supplies."

"So where are we supposed to get Celestial bronze?" Audrey asked. "You can't just stock up at Home Depot."

"Festus, do a scan."

"He can scan for magic bronze?" Frank marveled. "Is there anything he  _can't_  do?"

"Hephaestus kids can work magic," Emily said. I looked over the ship's bow. The Central California valley was passing below. It was unlikely that we'd find all we needed in one place, but if we could find some Celestial bronze, then maybe Hazel and I could take Arion and Zoltan to the nearest hardware store for some lime and tar. We needed to put as much distance between us and New Rome as possible, since I had no doubt that they had some method of traveling and catching up to us. Granted, Hazel did say that the Roman legionnaires preferred to travel on foot as opposed to on horseback, but who knows? Behind us, the stairs creaked as Percy, Annabeth and Zy climbed up.

"Is Jason-?" Leo began.

"He's resting," Zy said. "Piper's keeping an eye on him, but he should be fine." Percy gave Leo a hard look.

"Annabeth says you  _did_  fire the ballista?"

"Man, I - I don't understand how it happened," Leo stuttered. "I'm so sorry-"

" _Sorry?_ " Percy growled. He was giving a look that contradicted his normal upbeat self. I didn't know it was possible for Percy to look so ticked off, but then again, a couple months ago, I wouldn't have been able to believe that Emily could be violent in any way either.

"We shall deal with that later," Zy said. "Right now, we have to regroup and make a plan. What's the situation with the ship?" Leo explained the damage and the supplies we needed. He was bemoaning the shortage of Celestial bronze when Festus began to whir and squeak.

"Did I just interpret that right?" I asked. "That's perfect!"

"What's perfect?" Annabeth asked. "I could use some  _perfect_  right about now." Leo managed a smile.

"Everything we need in one place." I jumped onto Zoltan.

"I'll go tell Hazel. We'll meet you at the Great Salt Lake in Utah."


	4. Supplies

First Person: Emily

Once we got there, it wasn't a pretty landing. With the oars damaged and the foresail torn, Leo could barely manage a controlled descent. The others strapped themselves in below - except for Coach Hedge, who insisted on clinging to the forward rail yelling, "YEAH! Bring it on, lake!" Our team was with Leo at the helm, who aimed us as best he could. Festus creaked and whirred warning signals that were relayed through the intercom to the quarterdeck.

"I know, I know," Leo said, gritting his teeth. Zyanya had her hands over the controls, a shimmering aura spreading around the ship, though it was extremely thin.

"Don't have a lot of control, but I can't manage a  _little_." We didn't have much time to take in the scenery. To the southeast, a city was nestled in the foothills of a mountain range, blue and purple in the afternoon shadows. A flat desert landscape spread to the south, and directly beneath us, the Great Salt Lake glittered like aluminum foil, the shoreline etched with white salt marshes.

"Hang on, Coach!" Leo shouted. "This is going to hurt."

"I was  _born_  for hurt!"

_WHOOM!_  A swell of salt water washed over the bow, dousing Coach Hedge. The Argo II listed dangerously to starboard, but Zy twisted in the opposite direction, as though she was pulling on a rope, and the boat righted itself and rocked on the surface of the lake. Machinery hummed as the aerial blades that were still working changed to nautical form. Three banks of robotic oars dipped into the water and began moving us forward.

"Well, that went swell," Audrey muttered.

"Good job, Festus," Leo said. "Take us toward the south shore."

"Yeah!" Coach Hedge shouted, pumping his fists in the air. He was drenched from his horns to his hooves, but grinning like a crazy goat. "Do it again!"

"Uh, maybe later," I said. "Just stay above deck, okay? You can keep watch in case the lake decides to attack us or something."

"On it," Hedge promised. Leo rang the  _all clear_  bell and we headed for the stairs. Before we got there, a loud  _clump-clump-clump_  shook the hull. Arion and Zoltan appeared on deck with Hazel and Veon on their backs.

"How…?" Leo began. "We're in the middle of a lake! Can that thing fly?" Arion whinnied angrily.

"Arion can't fly," Hazel said. "But he can run across just about anything. Water, vertical surfaces, small mountains - none of that bothers him."

"Oh." Hazel was staring at Leo strangely, considering he looked exactly like Sammy. There was so much turmoil within her, and I hoped we could clear up this little matter between them soon.

"Zy, are you okay?" Veon asked, dismounting and walking over to her.

"Fine, why?"

"You look extremely tired out."

"You try driving a 200 foot long ship with nothing but your power. Don't start getting overprotective now. I can curse you to speak nothing but poetry for weeks."

"Backing off." Coach Hedge crept forward with his baseball bat, eyeing the magic horses suspiciously.

"Valdez, does this count as an invasion?"

"No!" Leo said quickly. "Um, Hazel, you'd better come with me. I built a stable below deck, if Arion and Zoltan want to-" Zoltan whinnied in protest.

"Uh, they're more free spirits," Audrey said. Hazel slipped out of the saddle.

"They'll graze around the lake until we call them. But I want to see the ship. Lead the way."

The Argo II was designed like an ancient trireme, only twice as big. The first deck had one central corridor with crew cabins on the either side. On a normal trireme, most of the space would've been taken up with three rows of benches for a few hundred people to do manual labor, but Leo's oars were automated and retractable, so they took up very little room inside the hull. The ship's power came from the engine room on the second and lowest deck, which also housed sickbay, storage, and the stables. Leo led the way down the hall. He'd built the ship with twelve cabins - seven for the demigods of the prophecy, four for Zyanya's team, and one for Coach Hedge, who Chiron had apparently assigned as a responsible adult chaperone. At the stern was a large mess hall/lounge, which was where Leo was headed.

On the way, we passed Jason's room. The door was open, and I saw Piper sitting at the side of his berth, holding Jason's hand while he snored. Piper glanced at Leo as he passed. She held a finger to her lips for quiet, but she didn't look angry. None of us should be blaming Leo for what happened. In a war against an earth goddess with many minions that could've influenced or controlled him, his incident wasn't new at this point. We continued forward and reached the mess hall, where we found Percy, Annabeth, and Frank sitting dejectedly around the dining table.

Leo had made the lounge as nice as possible, since he figured we'd spend a lot of time here. The cupboard was lined with magic cups and plates from Camp Half-Blood, which would fill up with whatever food or drink you wanted on command. There was also a magical ice chest with canned drinks, perfect for picnics ashore. The chairs were cushy recliners with thousand-finger message, built-in headphones, and sword and drink holders for all your demigod kicking-back needs. There were no windows, but the walls were enchanted to show real-time footage from Camp Half-Blood - the beach, the forest, the strawberry fields - and it made me both homesick and happy. Leo had put a lot into building this ship with tons of tricks, and I was happy that I was a part of the team that built it with him. You had to admit that this place was awesome. Hopefully it would survive this quest so we could keep it.

Percy was staring longingly at a sunset view of Half-Blood Hill, where the Golden Fleece glittered in the branches of the tall pine tree.

"So we've landed," Percy said. "What now?" Frank plucked on his bowstring.

"Figure out the prophecy? I mean…that  _was_  a prophecy Ella spoke, right? From the Sibylline Books?"

"The what?" Leo asked. Frank explained how Ella was great at remembering books, and at some point in the past, she'd inhaled a collection of ancient prophecies that had supposedly been destroyed around the fall of Rome. "That's why you didn't tell the Romans. You didn't want them to get ahold of her." Percy kept staring at the image of Half-Blood Hill.

"Ella's sensitive. She was a captive when we found her. I just didn't want…" He made a fist. "It doesn't matter now. I sent Tyson an Iris-message, told him to take Ella to Camp Half-Blood. They'll be safe there." I wondered if they really would, now that we'd angered a camp of Romans on top of the problems we already had with Gaea and the giants. Annabeth laced her fingers in thought. I guess the prophecy was talking about her, after all.

"Let me think about the prophecy, but right now, we have more immediate problems. We have to get this ship fixed. What do we need?"

"The easiest thing will be tar," Zy said. "We can get that in the city, at a roofing-supply store or someplace like that. Maybe a tar pit, cause why not?"

"Also, Celestial bronze and lime," Leo continued. "According to Festus, we can find both of those on an island in the lake, just west of here."

"We'll have to hurry," Hazel warned. "If I know Octavian, he's searching for us with his auguries. The Romans will send a strike force after us. It's a matter of honor."

"I'll delay him with as many trivial prophecies as I can," Zy said.

"You can do that?" Veon asked.

"Sure. My grandfather's Apollo, god of prophecies and such, and with my mom's power boost along with the goddess's, I can influence things a bit. I can't stop him from trying, and I can't tell him fake prophecies, but I'll try and delay Octavian with prophecies on what breakfast he's going to have, or how the weather's going to be. I'd love to see his face if I gave him a magic-eight-ball prophecy like, "try again later." Anyway, that won't delay him for long, so I suggest we still hurry. They'll be on our tail. At the least, they know we went inland, and they're gonna be pretty determined to catch us."

"Guys…I don't know what happened," Leo said. "Honestly, I-" Annabeth raised her hand.

"We've been talking. We agree it couldn't have been  _you_ , Leo. That cold feeling you mentioned…I felt it too."

"Me too," Audrey said. "It must've been some sort of magic, either Octavian or Gaea or one of her minions. But until we understand what happened-" Frank grunted.

"How can we be sure it won't happen again?"

"We'll use the buddy system," Zy suggested. "No one goes anywhere alone. We can leave Piper and Coach Hedge on board with Jason, while the rest of us split up, one team to get tar, the other to go after the bronze and lime."

"Split up?" Percy asked. "That sounds like a really bad idea."

"It'll be faster," Veon pointed out. "Besides, if we drag everyone around, we're gonna be a homing beacon for monsters."

"I've masked my scent as a normal human, and have worked to hide my team's scent as well," Zy said. "The rest of you, well, it'll take time and energy to do so; too much for me to constantly sustain. There will be no more than three of you on a certain task, and my team can't have any more than two at a time with said group."

"You're right," Annabeth said. "The same reason we needed the Argo II…outside camp, too many demigods in one place will attract way too much monstrous attention. The ship is designed to conceal and protect us. We should be safe enough on board, but if we go on expeditions, we shouldn't travel in groups larger than four, including Zy's team members. No sense alerting more of Gaea's minions than we have to." Percy still didn't look too happy about it, but he took Annabeth's hand.

"As long as you're my buddy, I'm good." Hazel smiled.

"Oh, that's easy. Frank, you were amazing, turning into a dragon! Could you do it again to fly Annabeth and Percy into town for the tar?"

"I'll take Zoltan and join them," Veon said. Frank opened his mouth like he wanted to protest.

"I…I suppose. But what about you?"

"I'll ride Arion with Sa - with Leo, here." She fidgeted with her sword hilt. "We'll get the bronze and the lime. We can all meet back here by dark."

"Emily and I can join you," Zy said. "Audrey, you watch over everyone on the ship and be prepared for a quick exit."

"Right."

"Leo, if we get the supplies, how long to fix the ship?" Annabeth asked.

"With luck, just a few hours."

"Fine. We'll meet you back here as soon as possible, but stay safe. We could use some good luck. That doesn't mean we'll get it." We nodded and headed off to our groups. Hazel and Leo were going to ride Arion while Zy was going to carry me, removing her jacket and summoning her one wing. Before we left, Percy pulled Leo aside and explained Hazel's story, with a slight undertone like, " _If you mess with my friend, I will personally feed you to a great white shark_."

Zy took my hand and we flew off beside Arion. It felt like I was flying, and I guess I was. The wind seemed to lift me up so that I was hovering and yet it didn't bother me much more than a light breeze would, so my eyes weren't getting wind blow at them at top speed, maybe the result of Zy's magic. Ahead of us lay an island - a line of sand so white, it might have been pure table salt. Behind that rose an expanse of grassy dunes and weathered boulders. Arion thundered onto the beach before coming to a stop, and Zy landed us beside him as he stomped his hooves and whinnied triumphantly, like Coach Hedge yelling a battle cry. Zy wrapped her wing around her as Hazel and Leo dismounted, Arion pawing at the sand and muttering things.

"He needs to eat," Zy translated. "He likes gold, but-"

"Gold?" Leo asked.

"He'll settle for grass," Hazel finished. "Go on, Arion. Thanks for the ride. I'll call you." The horse zipped away, leaving nothing but a steaming trail across the lake.

"Fast horse," Leo commented. "And expensive to feed."

"Not really," Hazel said. "Gold is easy for me." Leo raised his eyebrows.

"How is gold easy? Please tell me you're not related to King Midas. I don't like that guy." Hazel pursed her lips, as if she regretted raising the subject.

"Zoltan likes gold too," Zy said. "Veon put a few nuggets of gold he got from Camp Jupiter in his pockets for him. It's a Hades thing. Hades and/or Pluto are the god of the riches of the earth, hence gem and metal power." She kneeled and supped a handful of white sand, letting it fall through her fingers. "Ah, well, that's one problem solved. This is lime."

"The whole beach?" I asked.

"Yeah. See? The granules are perfectly round. It's not really sand. It's calcium carbonate." Leo pulled a Ziploc bag from his tool belt and dug his hand into the lime. He froze for a moment, seemingly remembering all the times Gaea had appeared to him in the ground - her sleeping face made of dust or sand or dirt. His mind was swirling to imagining her taunting him, and I kneeled to put my hand on his shoulder and calm him. I was pretty tired from my stunt back in New Rome, but I could still do the basic thing I always did and calm people down.

"Do we just need a bag of this?" I asked. He nodded, brought back to reality. Gaea wasn't here.

"Yeah." He started to fill the bag. Hazel and I helped him while Zy looked around for anyone else, hostile or otherwise.

"We should've brought a pail and shovels," Hazel commented. Leo smiled.

"We could've made a sand castle."

"A lime castle." The two of them locked eyes for a second too long before Hazel looked away. "You are  _so_ much like-"

"Sammy?" Leo guessed. She fell backward.

"You know?"

"I have no idea who Sammy is, but Frank asked me if I was sure that wasn't my name."

"And…it isn't?"

"No! Jeez."

"You don't have a twin brother or…" She paused. "Is your family from New Orleans?"

"Nah, Houston. Why? Is Sammy a guy you used to know?"

"I…it's nothing. You just look like him." We finished filling the bag in silence. Hadn't Gaea mentioned, back when Hazel was drowning in muskeg, that Sammy grew up and moved to Texas, married, and had a family? Wait, Hazel had never said that aloud to us. My powers were still giving me information that would put people's mind at ease. Leo's last name was Valdez, same as Sammy's. Leo had to be Sammy's grandson based on the years between when Hazel knew him and now. Heck, Hedge called Leo "Valdez" all the time. Hazel had even been present last time when Hedge was ready to attack Arion as an intruder earlier. I wonder if they'd ever figure it out, or if we'd have to give them hints. Granted, it wasn't like we had any confirmation yet, but the puzzle pieces  _seemed_  to fit together.

"Now to the Celestial bronze," Leo said, slipping the filled bag of lime into his cool tool belt.

"That way," Hazel said, pointing up the beach. "About five hundred yards."

"Handy talent," Leo commented. "Lead the way, Miss Metal Detector."

* * *

First Person: Zytaveon

So, tar. This is gonna be  _fun_. My ADHD was getting to me as I waited for Frank to arrive with Annabeth and Percy. Unfortunately, Frank wasn't as fast as the fastest horse in the world (crazy, I know) and I made it to town long before them. I was currently standing behind a building at the edge of a town, Zoltan having run off to graze when I arrived, and was singing "Carry On" by Olivia Holt (sung by a female, I know, but Zy sung a lot in school and she's rubbed off on me, and I have a  _very_  good singing voice, mind you). It was a pretty good message for this quest: it's gonna be hard, but we're still marching forward.

" _No one said this would ever be easy, my love_ ,  
" _But I will be by your side when the impossible lies to come_.  
" _We will travel this life well worn, no matter the cost, no matter how long_.  
" _We will leave our footprints behind, and carry on ~ carry on~ carry on ~ carry on~_ "

By the time they finally arrived, I had only gone through about three songs, but it felt like it had been an eternity. We met up and began walking to our destination, Percy saying that he sensed some liquid-like stuff that had to be tar somewhere in the city. Zy said she didn't care where we got the tar, just as long as we got it and came back with enough to repair the ship. Of course, I was bored out of my mind (BOOMM, as I'd come up with in middle school), walking behind Percy and Annabeth beside Frank. He had seriously gotten good at his animal transformations fast. I guess once you unlock the ability, it comes a lot easier to you. I'd been taught that back in the Underworld when I was unlocking as many abilities as my trainer could think of. Percy and Annabeth were catching up while we walked, and I was humming "Fireflies" by Owl City.

"Where are we going?" Frank finally asked.

"I think there's a large amount of tar somewhere in the city," Percy said.

"How much do you think he needs?" I asked.

"I'd say we overcompensate," Annabeth said. We stopped at a store to buy a couple five-gallon plastic buckets to hold the tar. Turns out, Percy wasn't very clear when he said he'd sensed a large amount of tar somewhere in the city. I'm not sure what I expected, maybe some kind of tar factory or a store where we could just walk in and say " _Fill 'err up, please!_ " but of course that's not what we found.

"A tar pit?" I asked with a deadpan face. "Of course it's a real tar pit." We stood in front of what looked like a small lake, except it was pure black, bubbling, radiating heat, and of course-

"Oh gods, that  _smell!_ " Frank exclaimed, holding his nose. I had stopped breathing through my nose a while back. I had taken one whiff out of curiosity, and instantly it felt like my nose was burning. It was an interesting smell, one that I may have liked for some odd reason if it wasn't so strong.

"What died in there?" Percy agreed. "Wait, don't tell me. I don't wanna know."

"Nevermind," Annabeth said. "We need to collect the tar and get back to the ship."

"Why couldn't we have just gone to a shop or something?" Frank asked.

"Fresh tar is more effective, especially for a battleship and not a house roof," I said. "Even I know that. Do you  _know_  what mortals do to stuff like this? The tars they sell in stores can be such rip-offs. This way, we won't get ripped off by some salesman for ineffective tar that could mean the difference between life and death considering we're repairing the thing that we're relying on to transport us halfway across the world. I doubt regular roofing tar would last nearly as long as this stuff under our conditions. Not to mention the less people we run into on this trip the better. None of us know who could be working for old Dirt Lady. No matter where we go, there could be enemies anywhere. Besides, it's not  _that_  bad."

"Speak for yourself. I am  _not_  getting  _any_  closer to that." I sighed, and grabbed the two buckets. Even back in school, it was either me or Zy who always sighed and did the dirty work when everyone else was too scared or grossed out to do so instead (dissection in 7th, 8th, 9th,  _and_  10th grade science class, for example. We missed 11th grade dissections since we left school at the beginning of the year for CHB) so I stepped into the tar, thanking Hades (quite literally) that I had on combat boots that didn't let the tar in. I dipped the buckets in and let the thick goo slide in and fill them, nearly taking the buckets down once they were full from the heavy and thick liquid(?) It bubbled, and some specks of tar stung my skin, but it wasn't burn worthy, more like just really hot water. Once the buckets were filled, I hefted the now very heavy buckets (which were steaming; I hoped that wasn't a bad sign) and walked back to the others.

"That was easy," Frank noted, taking one of the buckets.

"Dude, you  _never_  say how easy something is!" Percy exclaimed. "Now you've totally jinxed us!"

"Then we should get moving before-" Annabeth began when there was a slight rumble in the ground and the tar pit began to vibrate like it was being held over a speaker.

"And this is why you never say how easy something is," Percy said. The tar began to bulge in numerous places and formed vaguely humanoid figures, with a torso, head and two arms, though they had no faces. They were as tall as us despite being without the lower half of their bodies, there were at least a dozen of them forming in front of us, and they did  _not_  look like friendly nature spirits that just wanted to chat.

"Great, it's like Bendy and the Ink Machine but with tar," I muttered. The creatures waddled (is that the right word?) forward, swinging their arms as though they were walking and we slowly backed up. When they reached the edge of the tar pit, they continued forward onto the grass, the torsos of their bodies gliding across the ground and leaving a trail of tar behind them.

"Okay, time to run," Frank declared. We turned around but then tar began to pool out of the ground before revealing more of the things.

"What the heck  _are_  these?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," Annabeth admitted.

"They're tar monsters," I said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Frank said.

"You're welcome, Lieutenant Sarcasm." The creatures began to circle us and we formed a square, back to back (to back to back), drawing our weapons, but Frank and I both were an arm down from carrying the buckets of tar, and Frank only had his bow with him. "I'm gonna call them Searchers, since they look like Searchers from Bendy and the Ink Machine. Or Flan from Final Fantasy XIII. They look like black Flan. Searcher Flan? That sounds cool. I'm gonna call them that," I rambled, but realized that none of these guys would know what either of those videogames are. Eh, who cares?

"You do that," Percy said. "Think Celestial bronze will work on them?"

"There's only one way to find out. Can you control any of these things since they're sort of liquid?"

"No. It feels like I'm trying to command dough. I've tried to stop them, but they're not enough liquid for me to do anything with." There was a gloppy noise beneath us and I looked down to realize that the ground beneath us had turned to tar…and we were sinking in it.

"Schist!" I cursed (and yes, that was officially one of my new favorite kid-friendly curses). The monsters were still forming in the tar pit and the ones circling us were still advancing, and when one came close, I swung my lance at its head like a baseball bat. As expected…well, it went through the thing's head with a gloppy  _SPLAT_ , but unexpectedly, I actually took the thing's head off. But of course, it just reformed its head so…yeah.

"Frank, got any exploding arrows?" Annabeth asked.

"Don't know. This isn't my quiver. I got it from the ship."

"Explosives might be a good idea though," I said. Percy swung at the tar monster with Riptide, smartly using the blunt of his blade to more smack it than slash at it, and it went flying back into another behind it, both exploding into a bunch of tar, which of course got some of the stuff on us. Great. How was I ever going to get this tar out of my hair? Well, I suppose that solved the whole explosives (or lack thereof) issue. I tried to pick up my feet and stay at ground level, but all of us were sinking into the tar that had now become more like quicksand.

I considered all our options. Frank might be able to transform into a dragon and fly us out of here, but that did run the risk of him being attacked by these things and taken down into the tar like those elephants you'd see at a tar museum. Tar was heavy and thick and sticky, and living tar was one of the worst things we could've fought. Percy's hydrokinesis was worthless, and Annabeth seemed to still be coming up with some kind of plan now. Frank only had his bow with him, and was currently swinging his bucket of tar like a mace and using his arrows like daggers, but he was still sinking in the tar with us and seemed to be contemplating what he could transform into that would get us out of this mess. I could summon my lance and fly Annabeth and Percy up and out of the tar while Frank flew himself out, but we did have to consider if these things could form just from the tar that we had on us, and that leading them back to the ship could be disastrous. Not to mention the fact that the ones we were destroying were being replaced pretty quickly from us being literally  _right_  next to a tar pit. At least we were outside, so we weren't boxed in from above. That did leave us with  _some_  options…

Suddenly Frank shouted as he was suddenly pulled under into the tar faster than the rest of us, as though something beneath us had grabbed him and sucked him under. I quickly grabbed his hand, but as I was also standing in the tar, it was hard for me to get a grip and pull him free, causing me to sink a bit as well. I passed the bucket of tar to Percy before raising my hand with my lance and having it pull me up while I kept my grip on Frank.

" _Child of Mars, this could be yours. You would have your mother, your grandmother, and the life you always wanted._ "

"Frank?" I asked. His head broke the surface but he seemed unconscious.

" _This is the life you deserve, with your family, the ones you love. Do not aid these so called friends on their fool's quest._ "

"Frank! Whatever she's showing you, it isn't real! I'm sorry, but your mother and grandmother are gone! It's a lie, Frank! Frank!"

"I think there was a myth about these things," Annabeth said. "There was some mention of monsters like this. They were described as the result of those who've died from the tar. Some story about a man who was killed for being some kind of evil alchemist. He was thrown into a tar pit alive in the hopes it would keep his magic from saving him, or something by that logic, but it only ended up creating these things. They were named Mavro Kako, " _Black Evil_ ," and after that, anyone and anything that died from tar pits joined their ranks as these things, their souls forever trapped and never taken to the Underworld."

"Great, but how were they  _killed?!_ " Percy asked, still trying to fend off the Kako and wishing there was some water nearby. We were in an open acre of land, so no buildings with plumbing, and no water underground. Just tar, tar, and more tar. It was entirely possible that the tar was purposefully blocking access to any water, or maybe it was just a coincidence that there was no water available. Granted, I didn't believe in coincidences, but I did believe in the rotten luck of a demigod.

"There are a few versions. Sometimes they were never defeated; they just destroyed places then disappeared. Other times they were frozen into statues and then destroyed, their souls freed from whatever spell they'd been put under."

"Can you free their souls, Veon?"

"No, it's like the tar is acting as an insulator against my powers. They  _were_  created from some kind of curse, right? Unless it's a curse that  _I_  placed, I can't get past it."

"You can cast curses?"

"No, at least not to my knowledge."

"There are tales of the gods fighting and defeating them, and I think there were powerful priests that could purify them as well…" Annabeth was muttering. "Oh! There was a story about them being roasted by a dragon's fire that caused them to be freed too!"

"Hear that, Frank?" I asked. "We need you! Come on!"

"Never…!" His eyes suddenly snapped open with a gasp, and he realized what was happening.

"Thank Ra," I muttered. "Frank, we need a dragon's fire! Get out of the tar so you aren't sucked under once you transform, and then roast these guys!" He nodded.

"Right." Frank transformed into a dove and flew up and out of the tar, luckily leaving any tar that had been on him behind, or else he wouldn't have been able to fly. I guess we're never getting that bucket of tar back, though. He must've dropped it when he went under. We slashed at the Kako and bashed them with our weapons like they were clubs. I struck one with my lance and then swung it slightly upwards to rip completely through the thing's torso, and suddenly the Kako exploded in my face. The tar was pretty hot, by the way, so it was like I just got doused in very sticky and scolding hot play dough. I hissed at the heat, but it wasn't unbearable, and I wasn't gonna have third degree burns or anything (but hey, I wasn't a doctor, so don't quote me on that).

"Destroy their chests and they explode!" Percy realized.

"Not sure why that works, but okay!" I shouted. We slashed through the bodies of the Kako, making sure to cleave them through thoroughly. Of course, this resulted in us getting covered in exploded tar, and the things were coming reforming and more were spawning. Destroying them the old fashion way must not free their souls like Annabeth had told us, therefore we could destroy their bodies, but they could just use the tar to create more. We were gonna be overrun at this rate. Whenever the Kako got too close before we could strike them, they lunged at us and tried to swallow us into their tar bodies (as if we needed to get any more tar on us); most likely trying to kill us in the tar and make us join their ranks.

I grabbed the nearest Kako and then did a test. It froze and then exploded into a pile of ash, and I could feel its soul going properly to the Underworld. That worked for me, but turning this many things to ash would surely wipe me out even with my training behind me, and I did  _not_  want to pass out while sinking in quicksand-like tar. I didn't even know if more could just spawn afterwards, anyway, and if the tar beneath us would let us go even if I  _did_  destroy them all. Suddenly a big blast of fire engulfed some of the flan-like creatures and instantly caused them to explode, their souls leaving properly. I looked to see Frank had transformed into a dragon again. I'll admit, I forgot about him. Maybe it was my ADHD, but it felt like we'd been fighting forever before he finally started blasting away.

"Well that certainly speeds up the process," I commented. "As they say: kill it with fire."

"Great, now we need to figure out how to get out of this tar," Annabeth said. I grabbed her and Percy and then willed us to melt into the shadows before we reformed from Frank's shadow. "Why didn't you do that before?!" She demanded, though looking a bit dizzy from the trip.

"Slipped my mind…?" I tried, shrugging. Annabeth was pretty scary when she got ticked off. The girl wasn't as power-oriented as my friends, but she still gave that aura of  _respect me or die_. It was the truth though. I got a lot of powers and it's hard to keep track, okay? My trainer in the Underworld made me do a good deal of training without using certain powers or any of them, so I wasn't dependant on them. Sue me; or rather, sue my trainer.

"Look, I can't take more than two people through a shadow travel without help, and no matter where we landed, the tar might have followed us. See the logic?" She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything, so I took that to mean she did see my point. Frank continued to blast away at the never-ending swarm of tar creatures. Despite his proper killing of the Kako creatures, there were still many of them spawning. They weren't afraid to walk to their doom, they were following orders, and who knows how many of them there'd be? They were going to keep trying to get to us no matter how many it took.

"Time to go!" Percy announced, hopping on Frank the dragon's back. I saw the ground beneath Frank darkening and realized the tar was going to try and grab Frank if he didn't take off. Annabeth climbed on next, but when I moved to step on, the ground beneath me suddenly gave away, and before I knew it, I was engulfed by the earth.

This wasn't a muskeg, it was much different. First off, it was much hotter than the freezing mud back in Alaska, scolding in fact. Ever accidentally made your bathwater  _way_  too hot and only realized it once you had gotten in? Yeah, this was how that felt. It felt like my skin was burning, so much that it kinda felt cool, meaning it was so hot it was practically overwhelming my nervous system. It seemed that I had fallen into a small vat of tar, just big enough for me to have fallen through. I tried not to panic as I summoned my lance and tried to fly out, but as I held it up as far as I could, I felt that I had already sunk too deep for Percy or the others to reach me and the lance could no longer pull me put against the tar surrounding me and pulling me down. I could hold my breath for a long time, even when caught by surprise, but right now there was no way I'd escape. There was also the fact that I could barely feel any of my body from the heat and confinement of the tar trapping me, so I doubt I'd be able to do anything anyway.

Great, I could just imagine how lame of a death this would sound like. Fought countless monsters, defeated three giants (scared off a fourth), awesome son of Hades, King of Souls, and chosen demigod of the goddess Zyanya, centurion of the Twelfth Legion with all these cool powers…was defeated by a single pit of tar when out on a small errand to gather supplies to repair the ship. No honorable death in a battle to save the world, just an accident at the beginning of the big Prophecy of Seven quest. I inwardly sighed, both from that embarrassing fact, and the realization that  _this_  was what was going through my head when I was about to die.

It was then that I realized that I could breathe. There was a pocket of air around my head like a helmet, even though the rest of my body was restrained by the gloppy earth. I couldn't see anything, but when I struggled against the tar around me, it seemed to grip me like a vice.

" _So you are the boy, hmm?_ " A woman's voice boomed around me. It seemed to be coming from all around me, shaking the earth and vibrating me to my very core. There was a kind of interest in her voice, but also a coldness within it that scared me to death (and not the good kind).

"Gaea…" I realized.

" _Interesting._ " Some dim light formed to allow me to see a woman's sleeping face form within the tar. Though her eyes were closed, she was smiling. I could almost convince myself she was just a mask, but when her voice boomed throughout the earth and tar around me, I knew that was her. " _Son of Hades, do you understand your value?_ "

"I…uh…" How was I supposed to respond? " _Yes, my dad_ is _the god of riches, after all. I'm worth millions of dollars. Your point?_ " Was this about my worth as some bargaining chip for my father or Zyanya?

" _I speak not of your father, child. Your soul is very interesting. You will be a useful tool. My husband speaks highly of you. I see he was not exaggerating. I also understand why_ she _would be so intrigued by you as well. But in the end, her host shall be her downfall. People like her break so easily, and it won't be long before my revenge upon her is taken._ "

"You mean Zyanya? What have you done?!"

" _She will find out soon enough. Why are you so protective of her? Do you even know what she has planned for you?_ " I hesitated.

"She…she chose me to help guard the seven of the prophecy."

" _Allow me to enlighten you, son of Hades. That goddess is no ally of yours. She plans to betray you, to break your heart and soul once she's done with you, throw you away just like she did her brother. You are nothing but her pawn._ "

"You're…you're lying!"

" _We shall see. I have great plans for you, boy. What a pity it would be if you were to die so easily._ "

"Don't remind me how embarrassing dying here would be; I don't need you to rub salt in the wound."

" _You should not be loyal to that traitorous woman you call a goddess._ "

"And I should be loyal to  _you?_  Sorry lady, but I sure as hell ain't working for you, and no way am I going to be your tool or pawn." The smile on her face seemed to grow and she hummed in amusement.

" _Choose to stay with your master or not, you will see soon_."

"She's not my-!"

" _Until next we meet, I grant you this gift, Zytaveon Kanazoi, to help you survive and consider my words. See how your so called friend is twisting you to her needs, and how simply she can throw you away._ " With that, the earth goddess's face disappeared and the tar closed in on me once more. I tried holding my breath again, but I no longer felt like the tar and earth were closing in on me. I was resonating with the tar, as though…I was  _made_  of it, as though it were a part of my body. It was like with the shadows, just a bit thicker, though not impossible to order around. I willed it upwards until I broke the surface, and then when I opened my eyes, I was above ground. I looked to my body, to find I was completely tar free (thank goodness because I seriously did  _not_  want to deal with the stress of cleaning tar out of my hair and jacket).

The Kako were still there, but they were just standing there, as though someone had hit pause on the TV. Frank, Percy and Annabeth were gone, most likely having gone back to the ship with the bucket of tar for Leo. I'd have to shadow travel to them or something. It  _was_  evening, after all, and the shadows were at their greatest. I stared at the Kako, who, though they didn't have faces, seemed to be staring me down. I raised my hand awkwardly.

"Hey…how's it going?" The Kako all mimicked me, raising their hands as though they were about to take an oath. "What the…?" I put my hand down and they did the same. "Uh…okay…" Was this what Gaea said she was giving me as a gift? The ability to control an army of tar dudes? I could already control zombies and the dead, thank you very much. "You guys can like, go back to the tar pit now. The fight is over." They all turned around and waddled back to the tar pit, sinking into it with a few bubbles to signify their exit. One of them remained and walked up to me, putting its hand on my shoulder. "Um, what do you wa-?" But I was cut off as I melted into the ground.


	5. The Person I Hate Most

First Person: Lucy

The sun was beginning to set. The sky turned a bizarre mix of purple and yellow, but it was beautiful to me. It looked similar to the color scheme of my wing, which I'd designed to be my favorite pattern of purple fading to red, orange, and then yellow at the tips. The thing worked well for warmth, but I could still lighten it so that I wasn't dying from the heat of a summer evening. If anything, it was keeping the final rays of the sun off me and keeping me cool. In another reality, I'd maybe like to walk on the beach with Veon beside me. Really, it'd be nice to just walk anywhere with him beside me, as long as we could forget all the worries of the world while we were at it. It was so tempting just to say F the world and just drag him somewhere safe. Let the world burn. I just wanted to stay with Ve till it did. I wanted him to stay with me, to not go through what I know he has to. But I couldn't allow myself those kinds of thoughts. I couldn't stop; I couldn't just destroy everyone else's chances at happiness for my own selfish needs.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Leo asked as Hazel turned inland.

"We're close," She promised. "Come on." Just over the dunes, we saw a woman. She sat on a boulder in the middle of a grassy field. A black-and-chrome motorcycle was parked nearby, but each of the wheels had a big pie slice removed from the spokes and rim, so that they resembled Pac-Men. The woman had curly black hair and a bony frame. She wore black leather biker's pants, tall leather boots, and a blood-red leather jacket - sort of  _Michael Jackson joins the Hell's Angels_  look. At her belt was a curled whip, and her red leather jacket had a subtle design to it - twisted branches of an apple tree populated with skeletal birds. Around her feet, the ground was littered with the broken shells of fortune cookies. She was hunched over, pulling new ones out of a sack, cracking them open and reading them. Most she tossed aside, and a few made her mutter unhappily. She would swipe her finger over the slip of paper like she was smudging it, then magically reseal the cookie and toss it into a nearby basket.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked as we approached. When the woman looked up to him, he gasped and looked like he was about to hyperventilate. "Aunt Rosa?"

"Leo? What's wrong?" Emily asked, putting her hand on his shoulder and no doubt trying to calm him.

"Is that what you see?" The woman asked. "Interesting. And you, Hazel, dear?"

"How did you-?" Hazel stepped back in alarm. "You…you look like Mrs. Leer, my third grade teacher. I hated you." The woman cackled.

"Excellent. You resented her, eh? She judged you unfairly?"

"You - she taped my hands to the desk for misbehaving. She called my mother a witch. She blamed me for everything I didn't do and…no. She  _has_  to be dead. Who  _are_  you?"

"I believe your friends know. What about you, Leo? How did you feel about Aunt Rosa, mijo?" He hated her, same as Hazel hated her third grade teacher. After his mom had died, Rosa had rejected him, calling him a devil child. She blamed him for the fire that killed her sister, turning his family against him and leaving him, a scrawny orphaned eight-year-old, at the mercy of social services. Leo wasn't the kind of guy to hate people, but even I could sense that his blood was boiling at seeing his aunt's face again.

"What are you talking about?" Emily asked. "You both know her? Calm down, please."

"And who do you see, dear Emily?" Emily looked to the woman, but there was no flash of recognition or hatred in her eyes.

"What am I supposed to see? You're some kind of goddess, right? I can see that." The woman studied her.

"Hm, interesting. Most interesting. You're a child of Aphrodite, no? Even those children hold resentment in their hearts for someone, whether that be someone who they loath for their personality or their looks. No…there is something deeper underneath. No mortal has a pure enough heart to not resent someone, and the majority of the gods are no different. Who are you really, child?"

"Nemesis," I interrupted. "Goddess of revenge." She looked to me and smiled.

"Ah. You recognize me. And who do you see, darling?" Who did I see? I saw the person I resented the most, the woman who I've despised ever since I can remember. The one who ruined my life, the one who continues to destroy it and will not stop until my life comes to an end, and even then, she may not stop.

"I see the person I hate most," I said simply. I'd long since given up getting angry at that face. Nemesis cracked another cookie and wrinkled her nose.

"' _You will have great fortune when you least expect it._ ' That's exactly the sort of nonsense I hate. Someone opens a cookie and suddenly they have a prophecy that they'll one day be rich! I blame that tramp Tyche. Always dispensing good luck to people who don't deserve it!" Leo looked at the mound of broken cookies.

"Uh…you know those aren't real prophecies, right? They're just stuffed in the cookies at some factory-"

"Don't try to excuse it!" Nemesis snapped. "It's just like Tyche to get people's hopes up. No, no. I  _must_ counter her." Nemesis flicked a finger over the slip of paper and the letters changed to red. "' _You will die painfully when you most expect it._ ' There! Much better."

"That's horrible!" Emily said. "You'd let someone read that in their fortune cookie, and it would come true?"

"The big question is when you will most expect it," I muttered.

"See, she understands," Nemesis said. "My dear Hazel, haven't you ever wished horrible things on Mrs. Leer for the way she treated you?"

"That doesn't mean I want them to come true!" Hazel protested.

"Bah." The goddess resealed the cookie and tossed it in her basket. "Tyche would be Fortuna for you, I suppose, being Roman. Like the others, she's in a horrible way right now. Me? I'm not affected. I am called Nemesis in both Greek and Roman. I do not change because revenge is universal."

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked. "What are you doing here?" She opened another cookie.

"Lucky numbers. Ridiculous! That's not even a proper fortune!" She crushed the cookie and scattered the pieces around her feet. "To answer your question, Leo Valdez, the gods are in terrible shape. It always happens when a civil war is brewing between you Romans and Greeks. The Olympians are torn between their two natures, called on by both sides. They become quite schizophrenic, I'm afraid. Splitting headaches, disorientation."

"But we're not at war."

"Um, Leo…" Hazel winced. "Except for the fact that you recently tried to blow up large sections of New Rome."

"Not on purpose!"

"But the Romans won't believe that," I said. "They're stubborn bastards who won't listen to reason, striking first, asking questions later, and being biased to destroy everything that they think will pose a threat to them. They're a good army, I admit, but sometimes I want to throw them to Chaos for their arrogance and stupidity. Even in modern times, they don't get any better."

"War is coming," Nemesis said. "Gaea has seen to it, with your help. And can you guess whom the gods blame for their predicament?" Leo swallowed.

"Me…" The goddess snorted.

"Well don't  _you_  have a high opinion of yourself. You're just a pawn on the chessboard, Leo Valdez. I was referring to the player who set this ridiculous quest in motion, bringing the Greeks and Romans together. The gods blame Hera - or Juno, if you prefer! The queen of the heavens has fled Olympus to escape the wrath of her family. Don't expect any more help from your patron!"

"Hera did what she had to, as Zeus felt that cowering back in Olympus would solve everything," I said. "It's my job to oversee the demigods of the prophecy now. Romans are stubborn, but we just need to fix a few things and we might be able to convince them to stand down and work against the real enemy. A common foe can take the worst of enemies and make them allies, if even for a moment."

"Very wise, girl. I see why you were chosen. Still, you have your own duties to attend to meanwhile, which are just as important."

"That's why I have my team."

"Admitting to needing help? Admirable. I wonder very deeply, who it is that you see now. There is a dark pit of hatred and resentment within you, I can see it in your eyes, and yet I cannot dictate who it is that you direct that anger to and gain that resentment from. Your mother, perhaps? Or maybe it's that goddess within you who's made you-"

"Why are you here?"

"Why, to offer  _my_  help!" Nemesis smiled wickedly.

"Your…help?" Emily asked.

"Of course! I enjoy tearing down the proud and powerful, and there are none who deserve tearing down like Gaea and her giants. Still, I must warn you that I will not suffer undeserved success. Good luck is a sham. The wheel of fortune is a Ponzi scheme. True success requires sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?" Hazel asked, her voice tight. "I lost my mother. I died and came back. Now my brother is missing. Isn't that enough sacrifice for you?"

"We're alive, we're still fighting," I said. "That's more than we all deserve. Even with this war going on, even with all the bad things that have happened to us, are happening to us and  _will_  happen to us, we've still been given the chance to change things, to make things right, to have victory in the end. All of us have been given a chance. A chance is enough to do anything, to change the world for better or worse. We have the power to change things, the power to fix what's happened and to win. Not every mortal has that, not every demigod is a part of those who will play a distinguishing role in this war. We have a lot more than we think. The more power we have, the worse our lives are in return. Demigods are robbed of normal lives in return for the power they get from their godly parent. We've been given so much more." Nemesis smiled.

"You truly are a unique girl. You're worthy of the task you've been given, and you take it without complaint. My advice to you is to remember that you must take things into your own hands sometimes. Take the initiative, and let that anger you bury within you free. You say you have a chance, yet you are bound by chains, and we both know it. Don't let those restraints hold you forever, child. Taking, action, taking revenge, has its advantages, and sometimes it's okay to give in to it."

"I know that. It gives people drive to go on, allows them to do things that they wouldn't have been able to before. It gives power beyond anything else, except maybe love, even if that power is very unstable and dangerous. Playing with power can destroy your enemies, but it can also destroy your allies and you."

"Words. You are wise enough to know when revenge has gone too far, when a limit has been reached. You tell me you understand, but you must show me."

"I am. Or have you not been watching?"

"The real test has yet to come."

"I know that too. Is that all the help you have to offer?"

"Touchy, aren't we?"

"Right now, we just need some Celestial bronze," Emily said.

"Oh, that's easy. It's just over the rise. You'll find it with the sweethearts."

"Wait, what sweethearts?" Hazel asked. Nemesis popped a cookie in her mouth and swallowed it, fortune and all.

"You'll see. Perhaps they will teach you a lesson, Hazel Levesque. Most heroes cannot escape their nature, even when given a second chance at life." She smiled. "And speaking of your brother Nico, you don't have much time. Let's see…its June 25th? Yes, after today, six more days. Then he dies, along with the entire city of Rome." Hazel's eyes widened.

"How…what-?"

"And as for  _you_ , child of fire." She turned to Leo. "Your worst hardships are yet to come. You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel. You will not find a place among your brethren. Soon you will face a problem you cannot solve, though I could help you…for a price." I smelled smoke and realized Leo's fingers on his left hand were ablaze, and Hazel was staring at him in terror. He shoved his hand in his pocket to extinguish the flames.

"I like to solve my own problems," He declared.

"Very well." Nemesis brushed cookie dust off her jacket.

"But, um, what sort of price are we talking about?" The goddess shrugged.

"One of my children recently traded an eye for the ability to make a real difference in the world."

"You…want an eye?"

"In your case, perhaps another sacrifice would do. But something just as painful. Here." She handed him an unbroken fortune cookie. "If you need an answer, break this. It will solve your problem." Leo's hand trembled as he held the fortune cookie.

"What problem?"

"You'll know when the time comes."

"No thanks," Leo said firmly, but still slipped the cookie into his tool belt. Nemesis picked another cookie from her bag and cracked it open.

"' _You will have cause to reconsider your choices soon._ ' Oh, I like that one. No changes needed here." She resealed the cookie and tossed it into the basket. "Very few gods will be able to help you on the quest. Most are already incapacitated, and their confusion will only grow worse. One thing might bring unity to Olympus again - an old wrong finally avenged. Ah, that would be sweet indeed, the scales finally balanced! But it will not happen unless you accept my help."

"I suppose you won't tell us what you're talking about," Hazel muttered. "Or why my brother Nico has only six days to live. Or why Rome is going to be destroyed." Nemesis chuckled, rising and slinging her sack of cookies over her shoulder.

"Oh, it's all tied together, Hazel Levesque. As for why your brother has six days left, you might want to ask your  _other_  brother. And as for my offer, Leo Valdez, give it some thought. You're a good child, a hard worker. We could do business. But I have detained you too long. You should visit the reflecting pool before the light fades. My poor cursed boy gets quite…agitated when the darkness comes." The goddess climbed on her motorcycle, and despite the Pac-Man-shaped wheels, Nemesis revved her engine and disappeared in a mushroom cloud of black smoke. I bent down to grab a crumpled slip of paper that remained even after all the broken cookies and fortunes had disappeared.

"' _You will see yourself reflected, and you will have reason to despair._ ' Fantastic." I set the paper ablaze. I had already seen myself reflected a moment ago within the goddess's face. The person I hated and resented the most, the person who would haunt me forever till death and beyond wasn't my mother, and it wasn't the goddess. It wasn't even that woman in charge of that orphanage that I'd been confined to after I was found searching for my dad's family and met Kaze (and I resented her a lot, the evil beep).

It was me. For my helplessness, my acceptance of everything terrible that I've had to do and keep doing. I know what's at stake, and I keep telling myself I'm doing the right thing, that I have to go forward and can't give up. But will it ever come to an end? I will keep serving the goddess even if I succeed in this task, and that's wonderful and all, but I begin to wonder if I'm fading away, just a shadow of who I was, my person gone and replaced by someone else. Everything about me is borrowed. One day, the person that I am will cease to exist all together, and what roams the earth afterwards will be nothing but a shell to hold a deity. Or maybe, she never existed in the first place. Lucy Chikara doesn't exist, she never did, and she never will. I can never have the ability to say that I am my own person, not anymore. Was I ever my own person in the first place?

I have many titles: daughter of Zenobia, granddaughter of Zeus and granddaughter of Apollo, host to the goddess Zyanya, a mysterious woman with power not understood by anyone, Lucy Grigora-Chikara, but none of them mean anything. I can't tell you I like music and writing, because that's just because of the Apollo in me. I can't tell you I can turn to lightning, control the winds, and control all forms of electricity itself because that's just the Zeus in me. I can't tell you I'm a powerful demigod because that's just my mother's power in me. I can't even tell you I summon amazing allies and creatures because nothing I summon is of my own creation, always something I saw on TV or something I saw in a videogame or read in a book. Even just the ability to summon things is because of Zyanya. My name, Lucy Chikara? Both first and last are made up. I don't even have a name to call my own. There is nothing that I can call mine, and I can't say that I worked hard to get the power and skills I did. I'm not a hero, I'm just a shell.


	6. Echo and Narcissus

First Person: Lucy

"Who's Aunt Rosa?" Hazel asked as we trekked onward.

"Long story," Leo said. "She abandoned me after my mom died, gave me to foster care."

"I'm sorry, Leo," Emily said.

"Yeah well…what about you, Hazel? What Nemesis said about your brother?" Hazel blinked, like she'd gotten salt in her eyes.

"Nico…he found me in the Underworld. He brought me back to the mortal world and convinced the Romans at Camp Jupiter to accept me. I owe him for my second chance at life. If Nemesis is right, and Nico's in danger…I  _have_  to help."

"You're not the only one worried," I said. "Nico and Veon have a soul bond. He knows his brother is in trouble. He's known it since he was captured. If you're worried about Nico, imagine how he feels. His brother has now become the closest person to him in a way, and he's more terrified for Nico than Nico himself is scared of his capture."

"What did Nemesis mean about him having six days to live, and Rome getting destroyed?" Leo wondered.

"You can ask Veon about Nico. As for Rome, well I'd assume that's some kind of deadline for a plan the giant's have or something. So many deadlines. Honestly, when was the last time there was a quest without a deadline? Though I suppose that's what makes a quest a quest." Hazel climbed one of the largest boulders to get a better view. I decided I could look around on the ground, but Leo tried to follow and lost his balance. Hazel caught his hand and pulled him up so they found themselves atop the rock, holding hands, face-to-face.

"Um, thanks." He let go of her hand, but they were still standing pretty close. Emily was looking to them before she turned to something else curiously.

"When we were talking to Nemesis," Hazel said uneasily. "Your hands…I saw flames."

"Yeah," Leo said. "It's a Hephaestus power. Usually I can keep it under control."

"Oh." She put one hand protectively on her denim shirt, over the pocket where she was keeping Frank's little firewood piece, like she was about to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Leo looked at the island. The opposite shore was only a few hundred yards away, and between here and there were dunes and clumps of boulders, but nothing that looked like a reflecting pool.

I sensed he was considering Nemesis's words about him being the seventh wheel. He'd spent months along in Bunker 9 at Camp Half-Blood, working on his ship while his friends trained together and shared meals and played capture-the-flag for fun and prizes. Emily, Audrey and I joined him in working on the ship often, but even we were guilty of leaving for our own personal time. Piper and Jason had started dating, and their "quality time" didn't really include Leo either. Festus had been reduced to a figurehead, and Leo didn't have the technical skill to repair his control disk. He must've felt pretty lonely. We'd be there for Leo, and we'd never leave him out. He was one of the most important people of this quest, with his mechanical expertise and fire power. Even my team lacks expert technological skill, and we just get by with my ability to hack things with electricity.

"Leo, you can't take what Nemesis said to heart," I said. He frowned.

"What if it's true?"

"She's the goddess of revenge. Whether she's on our side or not, she exists to stir up resentment. Ignore what she says, or accept it. Just don't allow stuff like that get to you. You belong with us, and all of us are outsiders in some way."

"We should keep going," Hazel said. "I wonder what Nemesis meant about finishing before dark."

"Hello, do you know anything about a cursed boy?" Emily asked.

"Cursed boy," A girl's voice responded. I looked over and saw a young woman standing about ten feet from the base of the boulder. Her dress was a Greek-style tunic that was the same color as the rocks; her wispy hair was somewhere between brown and blond and gray, so it blended with the dry grass. She wasn't invisible, per se, but she was almost perfectly camouflaged until she moved, and even then, it was hard to focus on her. If not for the enhanced vision from the goddess and that of an archer, I might have gotten dizzy trying to concentrate and find her every time I blinked.

"Who are you?" Hazel asked.

"Who are you?" The girl repeated. Her voice sounded weary, like she was tired of answering that question.

"Are you the cursed kind Nemesis mentioned?" Leo asked. "But you're a girl."

"You're a girl," She repeated.

"Excuse me?"

"Excuse me," She said miserably.

"You're repeating…" I muttered. "A girl cursed to repeat things…You're Echo."

"Echo," She agreed. She shifted, her dress changing with the landscape. Her eyes were the color of salt water, and the features of her face were near impossible to make out without my powers.

"I don't remember the myth," Leo admitted.

"You were cursed to repeat the last thing you heard?" Emily guessed.

"You heard," Echo replied.

"Poor thing," Hazel said. "If I remember right, a goddess did this?"

"A goddess did this," Echo confirmed.

"I think it was Hera," I said.

"It was Hera," She agreed. Leo scratched his head.

"But wasn't that thousands of years…oh. You're one of the mortals who came back through the Doors of Death. I really wish we could stop running into dead people."

"Dead people," Echo said, like she was chastising him. He realized Hazel was staring at her feet.

"Uh…sorry. I didn't mean it that way."

"That way." Echo pointed toward the far shore of the island.

"You want to show us something?" Hazel asked. She and Leo climbed down the boulder.

"You sure you're real?" Leo asked. " I mean…flesh and blood?"

"Flesh and blood." She touched Leo's face and made him flinch. I touched her wrist and felt she was warm.

"She's alive as any other creature," I confirmed.

"Alive as any other creature," Echo agreed.

"So…you have to repeat everything?" He asked.

"Everything." A smile creeped onto Leo's face.

"That could be fun."

"Fun," She said unhappily.

"Blue elephants."

"Blue elephants."

"Kiss me, you fool."

"You fool."

"Hey!"

"Hey!"

"Nice one, Echo," I said.

"Nico one," She agreed.

"Leo, don't tease her," Emily ordered.

"Don't tease her," Echo agreed.

"What were you showing us? Do you need our help?"

"Help," She agreed emphatically. She gestured for us to follow and sprinted down the slope. It was hard to track her progress if not for the movement of the grass where she walked and the shimmer of her dress as it changed to match the rocks.

"Better hurry or we'll lose her," I said and we hurried after her. Echo led us down into a grassy meadow shaped like a blast crater, with a small pond in the middle. Gathered at the water's edge were several dozen nymphs, similar to the ones at Camp Half-Blood, wearing gossamer dresses. Their feet were bare, they had elfish features, and their skin had a slightly greenish tinge. They were all crowded together in one spot, facing the point and jostling for a better view. Several held up phone cameras, trying to get a shot over the heads of the others, they were bouncing up and down and giggling excitedly. I had never seen nymphs with phones before, but there was a vague memory of this from Zyanya's memories. I couldn't recall it right away, the memory of a god hard to sort with my human brain, but it did seem familiar.

"What are they looking at?" Emily wondered. "They seem pretty excited."

"They're fangirl-ing at something," I realized.

"Something," Echo sighed.

"Only one way to find out what," Hazel said. She marched forward and began nudging her way through the crowd. "Excuse me. Pardon me."

"Hey!" One nymph complained. "We were here first!"

"Yeah," Another sniffed. "He won't be interested in  _you_." The second nymph had large red hearts painted on her cheeks, and over her dress, she wore a T-shirt that read:  **OMG, I 3 N!** Yep, they were fangirl-ing.

"Demigod business," I announced. Make way, please."

" We pose no threat," Emily said. "Please allow us through." The nymphs grumbled, but they parted to reveal a young man kneeling at the edge of the pond, gazing intently at the water. He had a chiseled face with lips and eyes that were somewhere between feminine beautiful and masculine handsome. Dark hair swept over his brow. He might've been seventeen or twenty, it was hard to say, but he was built like a dancer - with long graceful arms and muscular legs, perfect posture and an air of regal calm. He wore a simple white T-shirt and jeans, with a bow and quiver strapped to his back. The weapons obviously hadn't been used for a while, as the arrows were covered in dust and a spider had woven a web in the top of the bow. His face was unusually golden, and I realized that the light of the sunset was bouncing off a large flat sheet of Celestial bronze that lay at the bottom of the pond. He seemed fascinated with his reflection in the metal.

"He's gorgeous," Hazel said. Around her, the nymphs squealed and clapped in agreement.

"Really?" I asked in disbelief. Sure, he wasn't ugly, but I wasn't one to swoon over him. Now I wasn't a person who cared much for looks in someone. Where most people complained about their appearance (acne and such) I found people looked fine and didn't have to cover up with makeup or anything. Hygiene was important, of course, but those with acne didn't necessarily look bad, and dressing elaborately just overdid things. People looked more natural when they weren't trying too hard. My point? I really didn't understand why these girls were so obsessed with this guy. Granted, that was how I felt about most people who had fangirls and thought they were the best looking thing in the world.

Now Veon looked like he was barely trying in the morning, his hair always a mess, his outfit basically the same every day and wrinkled like he'd just thrown on whatever was closest. I sometimes questioned if he wore the same shirt every day or whether he just had a million black shirts in his wardrobe. He always wore dark colors and wasn't a guy who was looking to be popular like this with a bunch of girls all over him (thank goodness considering I was dating him). He was a son of Hades, making him dark and intimidating, able to give a death glare that would have anyone cowering in fear, but I liked that for some reason. I wasn't someone to swoon over anyone or anything, but he made me the closest I'd ever get. What were we talking about again? Oh, right. Dude with a bunch of fangirl nymphs.

"I am," The young man murmured dreamily, his gaze still fixed on the water. "I am  _so_  gorgeous." One of the nymphs showed her iPhone screen.

"His latest YouTube video got a million hits in like, an  _hour_. I think I was half of those!" The other nymphs giggled.

"YouTube video?" Leo asked. "What does he do in the video? Sing?"

"No, silly!" The nymph chided. "He used to be a prince, and a wonderful hunter and stuff. But that doesn't matter. Now he just…well, look!" She showed the video. It was exactly what we were seeing in real life - the guy staring at himself in the pond.

"Riveting," I said with heavy sarcasm.

"He is sooo hot!" Another of the girls said. Her T-shirt read:  **MRS. NARCISSUS**.

"Narcissus?" Emily asked.

"Narcissus," Echo agreed sadly.

"Oh, not  _you_  again!" Mrs. Narcissus tried to push Echo away, but she misjudged where the camouflaged girl was and ended up shoving several other nymphs.

"You had your chance, Echo!" Said the nymph with the iPhone. "He dumped you four thousand years ago! You are  _so_  not good for him."

"For him," Echo said bitterly.

"Wait," Hazel said, clearly having trouble tearing her eyes away from Narcissus. "What's going on here? Why did Echo bring us here?" One nymph rolled her eyes. She was holding an autograph pen and a crumpled poster of Narcissus.

"Echo was a nymph like us, a long time ago, but she was a total chatterbox! Gossiping, blah, blah, blah, all the time."

"I know!" Another nymph shrieked. "Like, who could stand that?! Just the other day, I told Cleopeia - you know, she lives in the boulder next to me? - I said: " _Stop gossiping or you'll end up like Echo_." Cleopeia is such a big mouth! Did you hear what she said about that cloud nymph and the satyr?"

"Totally!" Said the nymph with the poster. "So anyway, as punishment for blabbing, Hera cursed Echo so she could only repeat things, which was  _fine_  with us. But then Echo fell in love with our gorgeous guy, Narcissus - as if he would ever notice her."

"As if!" Said half a dozen others.

"Now she's got some weird idea he needs saving," said Mrs. Narcissus. "She should just go away."

"Go away," Echo growled back.

"I'm  _so_  glad Narcissus is alive again," Another nymph in a gray dress said. She had the words  **NARCISSUS + LAIEA**  written up and down her arms in black marker. "He's like,  _the best!_  And he's in  _my_  territory."

"Oh, stop it, Laiea," Her friend said. " _I'm_  the pond nymph. You're just the rock nymph."

"Well, I'm the grass nymph," Another protested.

"No, he obviously came here because he likes the wildflowers!" Another declared. "Those are mine!" The whole mob began arguing while Narcissus stared at the lake, ignoring them. I put my hand to my forehead and muttered a few things in Japanese.

"Hold it!" Leo yelled. "Ladies, hold it! I need to ask Narcissus something." Slowly the nymphs settled down and went back to taking pictures. Leo knelt next to the handsome dude. "So, Narcissus. What's up?"

"Could you move?" Narcissus asked distractedly. "You're ruining the view." Leo looked into the water and saw his own reflection rippling next to Narcissus's on the surface of the submerged bronze. There was no doubt that the metal was a sheet of hammered Celestial bronze, roughly circular, about five feet in diameter. What it was doing in this pond, who knew? Celestial bronze fell to earth in odd places. A lot of it was from Hephaestus's various workshops, who would lose his temper and toss away the scraps of projects that didn't work out. This piece looked like it might have been meant as a shield for a god, but it hadn't turned out properly. I would think that it might be enough for the ship's repairs.

"Right, great view," Leo said. "Happy to move, but if you're not using it, could I just take that sheet of bronze?"

"No," Narcissus said. "I love him. He's so gorgeous." I looked to see the nymphs swooning and nodding in agreement. Only Hazel seemed appalled, wrinkling her nose as if she'd come to the conclusion that Narcissus smelled worse than he looked. Emily looked mostly confused by the nymphs' reactions, and I just rolled my eyes.

"Man," Leo said to Narcissus. "You  _do_  realize that you're looking at  _yourself_  in the water, right?"

"I am so great," Narcissus sighed. "He stretched out his hand longingly to touch the water, but held back. "No, I can't make ripples. That ruins the image. Wow…I am  _so_  great."

"Yeah, but if I took the bronze, you could still see yourself in the water."

"Here," I said, pulling out a hand mirror from my bag and giving it to Leo. "Try that."

"I'll trade you." Narcissus took the mirror, reluctantly, and admired himself.

"Even  _you_  carry a picture of me? I don't blame you. I am gorgeous. Thank you." He set the mirror down and returned his attention to the pond. "But I already have a much better image. The color flatters me, don't you think?"

"Oh, gods, yes!" A nymph screamed. "Marry me, Narcissus!"

"No me!" Another cried. "Would you sign my poster?!"

"No, sign my shirt!"

"No, sign my forehead!"

"No, sign my-!"

"Stop it!" Hazel snapped.

"Stop it," Echo agreed. Echo was kneeling on the opposite side of Narcissus, waving her hand in front of his face as if trying to break his concentration, but Narcissus didn't even blink. The nymph fan club tried to shove Hazel out of the way, but she drew her cavalry sword and forced them back. Emily was holding her hands out, trying to keep a fight from breaking out. No doubt a bunch of angry nymphs would cause some harm.

"Snap out of it!" Hazel yelled.

"He won't sign your sword," The poster nymph complained.

"He won't marry you," The iPhone girl said. "And you can't take his bronze mirror! That's what  _keeps_  him here!"

"You're all ridiculous," I muttered. "He's so  _full_  of himself. How can you possibly like him?"

"Like him," Echo sighed, still waving her hand in front of his face. The others sighed along with her.

"I am so hot," Narcissus said sympathetically.

"Oh please," I muttered with another eye roll. I didn't care any for guys who were hot, and if anything, it just made me want to toss them off a cliff and bring them down to earth. Veon, now he was more cute than hot, not overdoing it but still being annoyingly irresistible even though he didn't seem to know it. He smelled like death, which I oddly enough found nice. I digress. Moving on.

"Narcissus, listen," Hazel said, keeping her sword at the ready. "Echo brought us here to help you. Didn't you, Echo?"

"Echo," Said Echo.

"Who?" Narcissus said.

"The only girl who cares about what happens to you, apparently," Hazel said. "Do you remember dying?" Narcissus frowned.

"I…no. That can't be right. I am much too important to die."

"He died staring at himself," I remembered. "Nemesis was the goddess who cursed him, because he broke so many hearts. His punishment was to fall in love with his own reflection."

"I love me so, so much," Narcissus agreed.

"You finally died. There are a couple versions of the story. You either drowned yourself or turned into a flower hanging over the water or…Well, you get the picture."

"The point is you're alive again," Emily said. "You have a second chance. That's what Nemesis was telling us. You can get up, and get on with your life. Echo is trying to save you from what happened last time. You can move on with your life, or you can stay here and stare at yourself until you die again."

"Stay here!" All the nymphs screamed and I wished, for once, that I didn't have the sensitive ears of an Apollo descendant. They screeched like banshees, for Order's sake.

"Marry me before you die!" Another squeaked. Narcissus shook his head.

"You just want my reflection. I don't blame you, but you can't have it. I belong to me." Hazel sighed in exasperation. I glanced at the sun and saw that it was setting fast.

"Leo, Hazel, Emily, can I talk to you for a minute?" I requested, nodding towards the edge of the crater. "Echo, want to come with too?"

"Come with too," She confirmed. The nymphs clustered around Narcissus again and began recording new videos and taking more photos. We walked off until we were out of earshot.

"They were certainly…different," Emily commented.

"Nemesis was right," Hazel said. "Some demigods can't change their nature. Narcissus is going to stay there until he dies again."

"It  _is_  a curse from Hera. I don't think he has a choice in the matter."

"No," Leo said.

"No," Echo agreed.

"We need that bronze. If we take it away, it might give Narcissus a reason to snap out of it. Echo could have a chance to save him."

"A chance to save him," Echo said gratefully. Hazel stabbed her sword in the sand.

"It could also make several dozen nymphs very angry with us, and Narcissus might still know how to shoot his bow."

"That bow was in no condition to be used anyway," I said. "Those things take maintenance if you're not a god like Apollo. As for the nymphs, well, I might be able to hold them off long enough if we can get the bronze. Hazel, have you learned to summon the metal to you yet?" She frowned.

"Sometimes I can summon things, yes. I've never tried with a piece of Celestial bronze that big before. I might be able to draw it to me through the earth, but I'd have to be fairly close. It would take a lot of concentration, and it wouldn't be fast."

"Be fast," Echo warned.

"I might be able to give you a power boost thanks to my mother's properties, however we're most likely going to need some kind of distraction even then. Narcissus is looking at the thing all the time, and there's no way that he's not gonna notice it disappearing, no matter how fast Hazel is."

"All right, we're gonna have to try something risky," Leo said. "Hazel, how about you try to summon the bronze from right here? Make it sink through the sand and tunnel over to you, then grab it and run for the ship. The rest of us will cause a distraction."

"Distraction?" Echo asked.

"Have anything in mind?" Emily asked.

"Yes, I'll explain. Are you willing?"

"Willing," Echo said firmly.

"We're in," I said. "I think I know what you're going to say."

"Great, now let's hope we don't die."


	7. Team Leo

First Person: Emily

Leo psyched himself up for an extreme makeover. Zy gave him sunglasses from her bag, his hair was greased back with machine oil, he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, he stuck a wrench in his back pocket (though the reason why still eludes me) and Hazel and I drew a couple tattoos. Hazel did one on his left bicep that said  **HOT STUFF**  with a skull and crossbones, while I drew one on his right bicep that said  **TEAM LEO**  inside of a heart with the ends of an arrow on either side. Zy pointed at his shirt and it suddenly read  **HOT STUFF** ,  **BAD BOY** , and  **TEAM LEO**. She dismissed her wing for her jacket so her normally plum-colored shirt, that had changed to be a white one which said  **I** (heart) **LEO** , could be seen. She changed mine to be one as well.

"Not one word about the shirt," She said with a serious and threatening voice.

"What in the world are you thinking?" Hazel muttered.

"I try not to think," Leo admitted. "It interferes with being nuts."

"He's got a point there," Zy agreed. "Just concentrate on getting the Celestial bronze. We want to keep the nymphs and not-so-pretty boy over there from noticing its gone for as long as we can. Echo, Emily, you guys ready?"

"Ready," Echo said with a nod.

"We're all set," I agreed. Leo took a deep breath before he strutted back toward the pond as confidently as he could and we followed.

"Leo is the coolest!" I shouted.

"Leo is the coolest!" Echo shouted as well.

"Yeah, baby, check me out!" Leo shouted.

"Check me out!"

"Make way for the king!" Zy called.

"The king!"

"Narcissus is weak!"

"Weak!" The crowd of nymphs scattered in surprise. Leo shooed them away as if they were bothering him.

"No autographs, girls. I know you want some Leo time, but I'm way too cool. You better just hand around that ugly dweeb Narcissus. He's lame!"

"Lame!" Echo said with enthusiasm. The nymphs muttered angrily.

"What are you talking about?" One demanded.

" _You're_  lame," Said another. Leo adjusted his glasses. He flexed his biceps, though he didn't have much to flex, and showed his  **HOT STUFF**  tattoo. He had the nymphs' attention, if only because they were stunned, but Narcissus was still fixed on his own reflection.

"Leo is  _way_  hotter than Narcissus," I said, trying to use my charm speak and influence. "He's got such perfect hair, and an adorable face! And he's  _so_  smart!"

"You know how ugly Narcissus is?" Leo asked the crowd. "He's so ugly, when he was born his mama thought he was a backward centaur - with a horse butt for a face!" Some of the nymphs gasped. Narcissus frowned, as though he was vaguely aware of a gnat buzzing around his head. His head was so full of admiration for his own reflection, it was almost overwhelming, but we were beginning to get to him.

"You know why his bow has cobwebs?" Zy asked. "He uses it to hunt for dates, but he can't fine one!" One of the nymphs laughed, but the others quickly elbowed her into silence. "I bet you can't even use that bow  _nearly_  as good as m - I mean Leo!" I felt the distraction pushing its way through Narcissus's daze of admiring himself, and also getting through to the nymphs as well. I added to the influence, and finally, Narcissus turned and scowled at Leo.

"Who  _are_  you?" He asked.

"I'm the Super-sized McShizzle, man!" Leo said. "I'm Leo Valdez, bad boy supreme. And the ladies  _love_  a bad boy."

"Love a bad boy," Echo said, with a convincing squeal.

"I  _love_  a bad boy like him," Zy agreed, though I could sense her resentment of being so cheesy. Luckily she kept a perfectly straight face, even acting like she was infatuated with him without letting her true feelings show.

"He's so amazing!" I said with a perfect hint of admiration that it was convincing, but not too overdone that it seemed fake. Thank goodness we were actors who knew how to do this so well. Leo took out a pen and autographed the arm of one of the nymphs.

"Narcissus is a loser!" He announced. "He's so weak, he can't bench press a Kleenex. He's so lame, when you look up  _lame_  on Wikipedia, it's got a picture of Narcissus - only the picture's so  _ugly_ , no one ever checks it out." Narcissus knit his eyebrows. His face was turning from bronze to salmon pink. For the moment, he'd totally forgotten about the pond, and I could see the sheet of bronze sinking into the sand.

"What are you talking about?" Narcissus demanded. "I am amazing. Everyone knows this."

"You aren't amazing," Zy declared.

"You're amazing at  _pure suck_ , maybe," Leo said. "If I was as  _suck_  as you, I'd drown myself. Oh wait, you already did that." Zy and I giggled as girlish and fangirl as we could, and I willed some of the nymphs to begin doing so as well. Narcissus growled, which did make him look a little less handsome. Meanwhile, Leo beamed and wiggled his eyebrows over his sunglasses, spreading his hands and gesturing for applause.

"That's right!" He said. "Team Leo for the win!"

"Team Leo for the win!" Echo shouted. She'd wriggled into the mob of nymphs, and because she was so hard to see, the nymphs thought the voice came from one of their own. I wrapped my arm around Leo's for effect.

"He is so awesome!" I bellowed.

"So awesome!" Echo yelled back.

"And handsome!" Zy added, coming up from the other side. "He is  _way_  better than lame old Narcissus."

"He  _is_  funny," A nymph ventured.

"And cute, in a scrawny way," Another said.

"Scrawny?" Leo asked. "Baby, I  _invented_  scrawny. Scrawny is the new  _sizzling hot_. And I GOT the scrawny. Narcissus? He's such a loser even the Underworld didn't want him. He couldn't get the ghost girls to date him."

"Ew," Said a nymph.

"Ew," Echo agreed.

"Stop!" Narcissus got to his feet. "This is not right! This person is obviously not awesome, so he must be…" He struggled for the right words. It had probably been a long time since he'd talked about anything other than himself. "He must be tricking us." Apparently Narcissus wasn't completely mindless, as realization dawned on his face and he turned back to the pond. "The bronze mirror is gone! My reflection! Give me back to me!"

"Team Leo!" One of the nymphs squeaked, but the others returned their attention to Narcissus.

" _I'm_  the beautiful one!" Narcissus insisted. "He's stolen my mirror and I'm going to leave unless we get it back!" The girls gasped and one pointed.

"There!" Hazel was at the top of the crater, running away as fast as she could while lugging a large sheet of bronze.

"Get it back!" Cried a nymph.

"Get it back…" Echo muttered, straining as she most likely said it against her will.

"Yes!" Narcissus unslung his bow and grabbed an arrow from his dusty quiver. "The first one who gets that bronze, I will like you  _almost_  as much as I like me. I might even kiss you, right after I kiss my reflection!"

"Oh my gods!" The nymphs screamed.

"And kill those demigods!" He added, glaring handsomely at Leo. "They are  _not_  as cool as me!"

"Time to go then," Zy said before she stepped forward and pounded the ground as hard as she could. Instantly a wave of dirt, sand and water jumped into the air all over the nymphs and Narcissus, creating a wall of the stuff that blinded most of them. "Run!" We did so. We could run pretty fast when someone was trying to kill us (sadly all of us had plenty of experience) and we all quickly overtook Hazel, which was easy considering she was struggling with fifty pounds of Celestial bronze. Zy quickly took it from her, still able to run with it at her normal speed thanks to her strength. I looked back to see Narcissus nocking an arrow, but it was so old a brittle, it broke into splinters and the bowstring instantly snapped.

"Ow!" He yelled. "My manicure!" Normally, nymphs were quick - at least the ones at Camp Half-Blood were - but these were burdened with posters, T-shirts, and other Narcissus TM merchandise. The nymphs also weren't great at working as a team, stumbling over one another, pushing and shoving. Echo made things worse by running among them, tripping and tackling as many as she could. Still, they were closing in rapidly, and only Zy was keeping a good pace, mostly because of her godly stamina.

"Call Arion!" Leo gasped.

"Already did!" Hazel said. We ran for the beach and made it to the edge of the water. We could see the Argo II, but we had no way of getting there. It was much too far to swim, even if we weren't toting bronze.

"Zoltan!" Zy shouted, her voice booming across the lake. The horse suddenly appeared in front of her. "Emily, get on." I did so, and she passed me the bronze, making sure it was properly supported on the horse for a trip. The mob was coming over the dune, Narcissus in the lead, holding his bow like a band major's baton. The nymphs had conjured assorted weapons, some holding rocks, some holding wooden clubs wreathed in flowers. A few of the water nymphs had squirt guns - which seemed not quite as terrifying - but the look in their eyes was still murderous.

"Oh man," Leo muttered, summoning fire in his free hand. "Straight up fighting isn't my thing."

"Get behind me!" I ordered.

"Get behind me!" Echo repeated. The camouflaged girl was racing ahead of the mob now. She stopped in front of us and turned, her arms spread as if she meant to personally shield us.

"Echo?" Leo asked. "You're one brave nymph."

"Brave nymph?" She asked.

"I'm proud to have you on Team Leo. If we survive this, you should forget Narcissus."

"Forget Narcissus?"

"You're way to good for him." The nymphs surrounded us in a semicircle.

"Trickery!" Narcissus said. "They don't love me, girls!  _We_  all love me, don't we?"

"Yes!" The girls screamed, except for one confused nymph in a yellow dress who squeaked, "Team Leo!"

"Kill them!"

"Arion!" Zy called. The horse raced out of nowhere, joining Zy to began circling the mob so quickly they created a sandstorm - or lime-storm, I suppose - showering the nymphs in white lime and spraying their eyes.

"I love this horse!" Leo declared. The nymphs collapsed, coughing and gagging. Narcissus stumbled around blindly, swinging his bow like he was trying to hit a piñata.

"Get on!" Zy ordered. Hazel did so, and offered Leo a hand.

"We can't leave Echo!" Leo said.

"Leave Echo," The nymph repeated. She smiled, and her face suddenly seemed to become clearer.

"Why?" I asked. "You don't think you can still save Narcissus…?"

"Save Narcissus," She said confidently. Even though it was only an echo, I could tell that she meant it. She'd been given a second chance at life, and she was determined to use it to save the guy she loved - even if he was a completely hopeless (though mildly handsome) moron. Leo looked like he wanted to protest, but Echo leaned forward and kissed him on the check, then pushed him gently away.

"Leo, we have to go!" Zy shouted.

"Go," Echo agreed. The other nymphs were starting to recover, wiping the lime out of their eyes which were now glowing green with anger. I looked for Echo again, but she had dissolved into the scenery. I could still sense her there, her feelings of determination and resolve, and I knew that we needed to leave her. We'd need to visit her sometime, preferably without the other nymphs trying to kill us, but Echo deserved more in life, at least to have some kind of help or company.

"Yeah," Leo finally said, his throat dry. "Yeah, okay." He climbed up behind Hazel.

"Go! To the ship!" Zy ordered. Instantly the two horses rocketed off.

Zy summoned her sword and then smashed it into the sand, blinding the group once more before summoning her wing and flying after us, the nymphs screaming and Narcissus shouting, "Bring me back! Bring me back!"

We raced to the Argo II, and I remembered what Nemesis had told us. " _Perhaps they'll teach you a lesson._ " I thought she meant Narcissus, but maybe she was talking about Echo - invisible to her brethren, cursed to love someone who didn't care for her. I would never forget Echo, I was determined to never forget her face. She deserved at least one person who saw her and knew how good she was. Yet when I closed my eyes, the memory of her smile was already fading.

We made it back to the ship, waving to Audrey, who gave a " _Seriously?_ " look when she saw the nymphs coming behind us, and waved us away. We ran below deck, stumbling to a stop in the doorway of Jason's room, Zy carrying the sheet of Celestial bronze. Jason was sitting up and looked to be doing well, and Piper was sitting next to him, looking relieved. At least until she saw Leo.

"Gods of Olympus," She said, starting. "What happened to  _you?_ "

"Long story," He said. "Others back?"

"Not yet." Leo cursed before noticing Jason sitting up, and his face brightened.

"Hey, man! Glad you're better. I'll be in the engine room." He ran off with the sheet of bronze, leaving the rest of us in the doorway. Piper raised an eyebrow.

" _Team Leo?_ "

"Not another word about it," Zy threatened.

"We met Narcissus," Hazel said.

"Also Nemesis," I added. "The revenge goddess. We'll explain later." Jason sighed.

"I miss all the fun." On the deck above, something went  _THUMP_ , as if a heavy creature had landed. Annabeth and Percy came running down the hall, Percy toting a steaming five-gallon plastic bucket that smelled horrible. The two of them were covered in black sticky stuff.

"Roofing tar?" Piper guessed.

"Just tar-tar," Percy said. Zy snickered.

"Tar-tar."

"What?"

"Long story. Later." Frank stumbled in behind them, which made the hallway pretty jam-packed with demigods.

"Ran into some tar monsters," Annabeth said. "Hey Jason, glad you're awake. Hazel, Emily, where's Leo?" I pointed down.

"Engine room." Suddenly the entire ship listed port. All of us stumbled and Percy almost spilled his bucket of tar.

"Percy, get your ass up here and help me!" Audrey called from above deck.

"What was that?" Percy demanded.

"Oh…" Hazel said, looking embarrassed. "We might have angered the nymphs who live in this lake. Like… _all_ of them."

"Great." He handed the bucket of tar to Annabeth. "You guys help Leo. We'll hold off the water spirits as long as we can."

"On it!" Frank promised. The three of them ran off in opposite directions, leaving Hazel, Zy and I at the cabin door. The ship listed again, and Hazel hugged her stomach like she was going to be sick.

"I'll just…" She swallowed, pointed weakly down the passageway, and ran off.

"That's not gonna be pretty," Zy muttered. She fished something out of her bag and tossed it to me. "Tell her to take those pills. They should help with the seasickness." I nodded and walked after Hazel to assist her in her sickness. The ship rocked back and forth, and even I was getting a bit dizzy. Waves crashed against the hull as angry voices came from above deck - Percy and Audrey shouting, Zy ordering things, Coach Hedge yelling at the lake. Festus the figurehead breathed fire several times. Hazel was moaning in her cabin while I got her to take a pill and try to lay still. In the engine room down below, it sounded like Leo and the others were doing an Irish line dance with anvils ties to their feet. After what seemed like hours, the engine began to hum. The oars creaked and groaned, and I felt the ship lift into the air.

The rocking and shaking had stopped, and the ship became quiet except for the drone of machinery. I walked out, seeing as Hazel seemed to have calmed her stomach as much as she could. Leo emerged from the engine room, caked in sweat, lime dust, and tar. His T-shirt looked like it had been caught in an escalator and chewed to shreds. The  **TEAM LEO**  on his chest now read  **AM LEO** , but he grinned like a madman and announced that we were safely underway.

"Meeting in the mess hall, one hour," He said. "Crazy day, huh?"


	8. He Made Her Curse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, I try not to curse in my stories, but hey, the story's rated T so F it (and yes, I chose not to curse right there. Point stands, I don't like to curse in my stories unless necessary). Plus, it was a good way to come up with a title for the chapter. Enjoy, review, etc.

First Person: Lucy

" ** _HE WHAT?!_** " My voice echoed across the whole ship, and I'm pretty sure the whole place vibrated from the intensity of my scream, but right now, I didn't give a flying duck (that may or may not have been censored from what I actually said). They had left Zytaveon back in the tar pit when he'd fallen in and hadn't come back. I knew they had their reasons, I knew that they needed to get out of there or they would've faced the same fate, but that didn't stop the anger boiling within my chest, the panic, the terror that he may be dead. I couldn't lose another person that I'd let close to me. Everyone that I'd ever let into my heart always died…! Was I cursed? Why did they always have to be dragged into this? Punish me, for heaven's sake, but don't hurt them! Why was  _I_  still here when my family was dead and gone?

I paced the deck of the Argo II, twisting my mother's ring on right middle finger furiously with my thumb, Percy giving me a worried look ever since he'd told me about Veon. I could tell he was afraid I'd destroy the ship in my anger, and I was just barely holding back. Audrey was pacing as well, biting her thumb nail in worry. She never did that, so I could assume that this meant things were serious for her too. He couldn't be dead; we'd had to go back for him! No, I won't drag the others into this. They continue on the quest, and I'd go back to find him on my own. I was  _not_  going to let someone else slip away from me just like that.

"Don't even think about leaving on your own," Audrey said.

"Since when are you Emily?" I asked. Emily was the one who was able to mysteriously read minds and know exactly what someone was thinking. Audrey wasn't that way (at least as far as I knew).

"I'm not. I just know you really well, goddess or not." Well, what the others didn't know was that the goddess was becoming more and more dormant within me. She only comes out to speak for short periods of time when I need her input or wisdom, but she wasn't out 24/7 like she had been before. It made me slightly panicked when she couldn't tell me what to do, or left me to do haggling and talking on my own, but I knew I needed to be able to handle myself without her. I still had access to some of her knowledge and power, but not nearly as much as before.

"I need to go back," I said. "I might be able to do something if I find him. The longer we wait, the lower his chances of survival are. Yet there  _is_  a chance he's alive, and I'm going to take it."

"He got sucked into the ground, right? For all we know, Gaea has him and has taken him wherever she took his brother. If that's the case, we'll find him if we continue forward."

"I have to at least check, Audrey!"

"What's wrong?" Emily asked, walking up the stairs from below deck.

"Veon is gone! He disappeared into the ground when they were out facing tar monsters. I  _have_  to go look for him!"

"Wait, hold on. First, you need to calm down. You can't make rational decisions when you're this riled up."

"So it  _isn't_  rational to be worrying my head off for him and want to go looking for him right away?!"

"Not when you're this angry." I knew, somewhere in the back of my mind, that Emily was right, that I'd regret things if I didn't stop and calm down right now. I had once believed that when people told me to calm down, it only made me angrier, and that they had no right to tell me to just  _calm down_  (many counselors and psychologists were paralyzed or had "mysterious" heart attacks as the result of my fury), that I had the right to be angry and want to do something. Yet when I was left alone to calm, to think my thoughts of anger until I was tired out, I eventually found that my anger couldn't be maintained, and that I had usually been acting stupid. Still, all those stupid adults should've known to just leave me alone to calm down, not order and demand that I just sit down and relax like they know how I feel.  _No one_  knows the pain I've gone through, and  _no_   _one_  has the right to order me around like they know me. I was pumping from adrenaline, I felt lightning sparking across my fingers. I needed to do  _something_ , and I needed to do it now.

"Zyanya, I don't have any right to order your around, I don't know what you've been through, but as your friend I can at least recommend that you please pace yourself and think things through." Emily was impossible to stay angry at. She knew the right things to say, and she just gave off that aura that made my mind ignore her even when I was in a rage. I couldn't possibly blame anything on her, I couldn't be mad at her, but in turn, I just ignored her as though she didn't exist. I heard her words, I really did, but I did what I always did when angry and figured that I was already thinking straight. I could comprehend my thoughts as well as ever. My mind  _wasn't_  clouded by rage.

"I need to go," I declared. "I need to go, right now! I need to  _try_  Emily, I need to at least go back and  _look!_ " She sighed and closed her eyes. I knew she was going to try something on me to get me to calm down, and that only made me angrier. No one should be able to just control me, to restrain me when I'm angry. Just leave me alone! But when I felt no different, I figured that either Emily wasn't strong enough to reach me, or she wasn't even trying. When she put her hand out like "go ahead," I realized it was the latter. She wasn't going to try and stop me. That's right, this was Emily. She knew better than any of those high and mighty adults who thought they had the right to order me around just because they had some kind of degree. And unlike them, she really did know me more than what those adults had read in a folder.

I turned from her and felt myself beginning to relax, but I knew it wasn't because of Emily's influence, at least, not her powers anyway. That trust that she put in me, the thought that she wasn't going to interfere and would just let me do what I wanted instead of trying to contain me and my rage…I don't know, it made me calmer. When I now thought of Veon's predicament, I no longer felt rage and the drive to go out and challenge anyone that dared harm him. I just felt sad. I felt a pit of sorrow and worry drowning me in an ocean of pain and emotion. And it wasn't only Veon. It was everyone. I'd lost too many people close to me, my mom, my dad, my little brother. Long ago, I'd once tried to have friends with other orphans or illegal kids on the run like me, but it didn't work out for them either.

It wasn't just the numbers, either, it was the way they were killed. My friends were all hunted down and caught, treated no better than wild animals that had to be either locked up or killed. My mother left me the day I was born. I couldn't even tell you if I got any physical traits from her, I can't say that I knew her laugh or smile. My father died when he went out to try and surprise me with a gift. He left one day, saying he'd be back,  _promising_ , but he didn't return. I never saw him again after that day. I was four. And my brother…what happened to him would haunt me forever. The way that I lost him, the way that I was helpless to watch him as he died…I can't lose someone else, especially not Zytaveon.

I took a deep breath and was about to summon my wing when there was a sudden spike of energy behind me. I turned to see a puddle of black bubbling liquid pooling on the deck out of nowhere. It expanded until it looked like someone had dumped a bucket of paint from above, and then it began to bulge and take on a humanoid shape.

"Kako!" Percy shouted.

"Is that some kind of curse?" Audrey asked.

"It's the tar monsters we fought back at the tar pit," He explained, drawing Riptide. My anger grew once more. This one of the things that took Veon? My fingers crackled with electricity before I shot a bolt of electricity with the force of a lightning bolt made my Zeus himself at the gloppy monster. It went flying back into a mast with a rattling force and was flattened against it from the force. It molded around the mast from its flexible state before peeling itself off and trying to reform again. I stepped forward, my fingers cracking with enough electricity to power all of North America, and pinned the monster by its neck against the mast.

"Where is Zytaveon Kanazoi?!" I demanded. "Don't think I can't understand you, now talk!"

" _Here…_ " It said.

"What does that mean?!"

" _I'm…here…_ " I hesitated.

"What?" The pieces of stray tar began to conglomerate into the Kako as it solidified and shaped into a more clear figure. It went from just a head, arms and torso that was dripping tar all around to a smooth, non-dripping, humanoid with four limbs, a head, and even a clear indication of boots and a jacket. The silhouette of the person was clearly a male, he was a whole head taller than me, and he was becoming clearer every second. I could see his messy hair, his distinct face, and I could even smell that certain scent through the atrocious tar stench. When all of the tar had come together and fully formed the person, he fully transformed into flesh and blood again.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side…again. And could you please release me? I now need to breathe!" I suddenly snapped out of my shock and released his neck as he sighed in relief and rubbed it, taking a few deep breaths.

"Veon!" Emily called.

"Ha-ha! Cool," Audrey muttered. "How'd you do that? How have we not known about this power before? Can you just, like,  _form_  anywhere?!" He chuckled in an annoying adorable, way only making the swirl of emotions in my chest more painful.

"I don't know, Dray. I just seemed to have appeared here after melting into the ground. Felt kinda like shadow travelling, but a little…gloppier. Is this what it feels like when you transform into water? Well, I guess it's a bit more fluid, but point still stands. I'm pretty sure if I wasn't just made out of a rubber-like substance, Zy would've just killed me from all that electricity. Someone must've missed-" He was interrupted as I punched him square in the jaw as hard as I could, trying to release this feeling in my stomach and chest. I was relieved beyond measure, so much that it hurt. He rubbed his jaw, and I'm almost positive it should've been broken from the force I had put behind my attack, if not for his new tar-like powers.

"What was that f-?" I punched him again and nearly knocked him off his feet.

"How dare you scare me like that?! I thought you were captured by Gaea! Worse, I thought you were fucking dead!"

"Whoa-ho, she just cursed," Audrey muttered. I'll admit that I don't usually let curses slip that often, even in my head, dear readers, not unless it was serious, and I'm near always able to censor myself by either changing it, changing my language, or muttering it so quietly, it's nothing more than a huff of breath. So yeah, you can see how ticked I am, and I hope you can sympathize, because I was understandably pissed off.

"Look, I'm sorry, but it's not my fault I-" I punched him again, this time in the chest, and it sent his tall frame toppling over. Luckily I aimed it the right way, or he might've gone flying off the railing of the ship from the force, but he hit the deck with a loud  _THUD_  and the others came running up battle-ready.

"What is it?" Leo asked holding up a three pound club hammer with a double-faced head the size of a baked potato - the biggest weapon his tool belt could provide him. "More monsters?" He looked around but found no immediate threat. "Uh…what's up?"

"Veon!" Annabeth called.

"Hey, you're okay," Frank added with relief in his voice. Veon grunted.

"As okay as I can be…" He said, the wind knocked out of him. I huffed and turned dramatically. I wasn't in the mood to deal with explanations and all that shit.

I headed below deck and to my cabin, snapping as music flooded the sound-proof room at full blast. The music always calmed me, no matter what type (slow or fast, loud or quiet) as long as I liked it. I took off my jacket, not thinking about if anyone came barging in and saw my arms anymore, and plopped down on my queen-sized bed, staring at the bronze beams on the ceiling. Leo and I had programmed the quarters to adjust automatically to the occupant's preferred temperature, the mattress and the pillows were stuffed with pegasus down (no pegasi were harmed in the making of these products) so they were über-comfortable, and some rooms had been made differently than the others, mainly my team's. I always kept my room pretty cool for some reason, since the combined property of having lightning god, sun god, power goddess, and Zyanya within me, kinda made me a ball of explosive energy, therefore raising my average body temperature.

My room was sound-proof, to fulfill all my Apollo music needs (because I tended to be loud when I played music, sue me) and it had a guitar that I'd enchanted to be able to play any music I wanted as long as I knew what I wanted to be played, so not just one instrument, sitting on a guitar stand. The room was enchanted so that music flowed out of the walls to make a crystal clear sound system. It had a couple windows and most things in here were electricity-proof, and I'd made it bigger on the inside, much bigger than the other cabins, because a girl needs her space, and why not abuse my ability to make my room however I like it? There was a bookcase filled to the brim with books, the bookcases nailed down with locked doors made of clear acrylic because I knew there would be turbulence on this trip and didn't want to organize my books every time we were attacked, and a second filled with journals, some empty and some filled, that I write in (cause I usually tend to write stories or draw when I'm bored).

While the others had bronze lanterns that hung from the ceiling, perforated with pinholes on the sides so at night glimmering constellations drifted across the walls, I had light coming from the room itself, with no discernible source. The room just brightened and darkened to my needs, with no light source in sight. I was the one who made Veon's, which was basically a mix of his cabin and his room in the Underworld, so he had torches with green fire, a lamp with a purple light, and it was, for the most part, dark, mostly black. Emily's had a hearth in honor of her secret mother, and it was colorful (so the exact opposite of Veon's) but otherwise, I just let her design hers to her heart's desire. I think she made hers based on her old home or something. Audrey's was pretty cool, hers having a bunch of water hovering from ceiling to floor with a bed inside. It's not a tank or anything, it's just a rectangular prism of water that glowed like a fish tank. She could jump in and out of the walls to her heart's content without it falling apart or splashing anywhere, and it caused a blue light to flow throughout her room, like an aquarium or an aurora borealis. Percy didn't get the same thing solely because he wasn't there during the construction of the Argo II. Annabeth was the one who designed his room as best she could to his preferences, so he could blame her if he didn't have an awesome waterbed.

I began playing "Silent Scream" by Anna Blue, a song that I was currently hooked on. It practically represented me.

" _I'm caught up in your expectations_ ,  
" _You try to make me live your dream_ ,  
" _But I'm causing you so much frustration_ ,  
" _And you only want the best for me_.

" _You're wanting me to show more interest_ ,  
" _To always keep a big bright smile_ ,  
" _Be that pinky little perfect princess_ ,  
" _But I'm not that type of child_.

" _And the storm is rising inside of me_ ,  
" _Dontcha feel that our worlds collide?_  
" _It's getting harder to breathe_ ,  
" _It hurts deep inside_.

" _Just let me be_ ,  
" _Who I am_ ,  
" _It's what you really need to understand_.  
" _And I hope so hard for the pain to go away_.

" _And it's torturing me (torturing me)_ ,  
" _But I can't break free_ ,  
" _So I cry and cry but just won't get it out_ ,  
" _The silent scream_.

" _Tell me why you're putting pressure on me_ ,  
" _And every day you cause me harm_ ,  
" _That's the reason why I feel so lonely_ ,  
" _Even though you hold me in your arms_.

" _Wanna put me in a box of glitter_ ,  
" _But I'm just trying to get right out_ ,  
" _And now you're feeling so, so bitter_ ,  
" _Because I've let you down_.

" _And the storm is rising inside of me_ ,  
" _Dontcha feel that our worlds collide?_  
" _It's getting harder to breathe_ ,  
" _It hurts deep inside_.

" _Just let me be_ ,  
" _Who I am_ ,  
" _It's what you really need to understand_.  
" _And I hope so hard for the pain to go away_.

" _And it's torturing me (torturing me)_ ,  
" _But I can't break free_ ,  
" _So I cry and cry but just won't get it out_ ,  
" _The silent scream_.

" _Can't you see_ ,  
" _How I cry for help?_  
" _Cause you should love me_ ,  
" _Just for being myself_.

" _I'll drown in an ocean_ ,  
" _Of pain and emotion_ ,  
" _If you don't_ ,  
" _Save me right away_.

" _Just let me be_ ,  
" _Who I am_ ,  
" _It's what you really need to understand_.  
" _And I hope so hard for the pain to go away_.

" _And it's torturing me (torturing me)_ ,  
" _But I can't break free_ ,  
" _So I cry and cry but just won't get it out_ ,  
" _The silent scream_.

" _My silent scream._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Silent Scream" is an awesome song and just reading the lyrics is not enough since the music behind it is awesome too. I recommend looking it up. Though the music video doesn't describe my personal life, the lyrics themselves represent my character, and I wanted to put it in since I love it. So yeah, go take three minutes and 40 seconds of your life and listen to the song itself, it's great.


	9. Off to Kansas

First Person: Zytaveon

After I explained that I'd mysteriously gotten the power to control and transform into tar from Gaea, I finally escaped from the others and promised we could discuss it at the meeting in half an hour. I headed down to Zy's room and knocked on the door. There was a moment of pause before the door opened, and Zy looked at me with a tired face that clearly said " _What the hell do_ you _want?_ "

"Uh, hi. Can I come in?" She shrugged and backed away, allowing me inside.

"What's up?"

"Well, you're ticked off at me and…holy - why the heck is your room so big?" It was at least twice the size of the other rooms, and it even had a door that led to a bathroom. It most definitely should've taken up the space of the neighboring rooms.

"Magic. It's like a TARDIS, bigger on the inside. Back to the point please."

"Well if you're angry at me, I hope to resolve things somehow, but I'm not really sure how to do that. So…here." I passed her a bow and quiver that I got from my room before I came here. She might have seen it back when we were escaping New Rome, and I had planned for her not to, but you know, that didn't work out. I wanted to just shadow travel them onto the ship so I could surprise her on her birthday, but I was admittedly excited to give her the present, plus things were a bit hectic in New Rome and I climbed the rope ladder to protect Annabeth and Percy on their way up. When I handed the weapons to her, she suddenly took a step back, her hand moving to her gun. Well that wasn't the reaction I expected.

"Sorry." She relaxed and took the bow (if a bit reluctantly) and quiver. Her hand seemed to be trembling, as though the bow was poisonous, and she quickly set them down next to her nightstand.

"Uh, it's made of some gems and metals from the Underworld so it'll work with your lightning powers and stuff. I was planning it as a birthday gift, but you know, I couldn't wait and I know things are gonna be a bit hectic for the next few days and thought you could use it."

"Thanks. I'll think about it."

"Think about…?"

"I don't use a bow for a reason." She was staring at the thing longingly, as though she really wanted to use it, but something was stopping her. Her brother maybe. She didn't use a bow because of his death.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"It's okay. Someday, I'll have to move on from the past." There was a weird silence, but a moment later I realized it wasn't silent, and a light song was playing throughout the room in the background, almost as though it was coming from everywhere, the walls, the floor, the ceiling. It was a tune played on a guitar, the notes flowing calmly and giving off a reminiscent feel.

"So, what's up with the T-shirt? Should I be worried?" She looked at her shirt in surprise and realized that it said  **I** (heart)  **LEO**. She chuckled nervously and snapped before it transformed back to her normal, blank, plum color.

"Long story. We had to distract this guy who was so full of himself, and the only way to do that was to pretend that Leo was way more awesome than him. Me and Emily had to play fangirls." She shuddered. "Never wanna do that again. I've got nothing against Leo, he's cool, but I'm  _not_  a fangirl and I will hopefully  _never_  have to squeal or say someone's hot  _ever_  again."

"So I'm not hot?"

"Ugh, don't say that. You're cute, handsome, but not " _hot,_ " and I don't want you to be. You are all mine, sir. If someone another girl, or boy for that matter, takes you from me, know that I will castrate you on the spot."

"Uh, did  _not_  need that visual, thank you very much." She quickly kissed me and then gave me a light shove.

"Get out, Death Head, I need a shower." I left her in peace. I cleaned off Percy, Annabeth and Frank with my new tar powers, and then let them clean up the rest on their own. Once everyone was good as new, Coach Hedge took the helm and the demigods gathered below for dinner. There was a clear tension in the mess hall, as though we'd all suddenly realized that the Prophecy of Seven was beginning. No more waiting for Leo to finish the Argo II, no more days waiting, pretending the future was a long way off. We were on our way, being chased by a bunch of angry Romans, and threatened with the task of facing the giants and Gaea.

The tension was like an electrical storm brewing, which was entirely possible considering Percy and Jason's powers. Audrey was just playing with a small snake of water, while Zy was spinning her ring and tapping her finger, no doubt playing a song in her head, but the boys were plenty enough to make a storm. In an awkward moment, the two boys tried to sit in the same chair at the head of the table. Sparks literally flew form Jason's hands, and the water in Audrey's bowl began to float without her consent. After a brief silent standoff, like they were both thinking, " _Seriously, dude?!_ ", they ceded the chair to Annabeth and sat at opposite sides of the table. Those two were clearly gonna get along great.

The crew compared notes on what had happened in Salt Lake City, but even Leo's ridiculous story about how he tricked Narcissus wasn't enough to cheer up the group. Half of us were tapping our feet or hands as a result of our ADHD, but otherwise, we were listening closely, the seriousness in the room pretty clear. I was careful to not mention what Gaea had said about Zy, only saying that she said something about me being important and some kind of tool. It was easily dismissed as something similar to Percy, how Gaea was an idiot for thinking we'd just be on her side, and why look a gift horse in the mouth when it came to her giving me a power. We agreed that I'd have to be careful with it, but otherwise, it might be useful.

"So where to now?" Leo asked with a mouthful of pizza. "I did a quick repair job to get us out of the lake, but there's still a lot of damage. We should really put down again and fix things right before we head across the Atlantic." Percy was eating a piece of pie, which was completely blue - filling, crust, even the whipped cream. Audrey reached over and stole a bite, but still didn't understand what made blue food so much better. Percy looked a bit annoyed, but he accepted it, knowing he couldn't stop her. They were brother and sister already.

"We need to put some distance between us and Camp Jupiter," He said. "Frank spotted some eagles over Salt Lake City. We figure the Romans aren't far behind us."

"No doubt," Zy said. "I've stalled Octavian and his auguries all I can, but they know the general direction we went and our destination already. Put a few heads together, and they were bound to figure it out. The eagles were only a scouting party, and when they report back, the Romans will be on our tail full force."

"I don't suppose we should go back and try to reason with the Romans?" Piper suggested. "Maybe…maybe I didn't try hard enough with the charm speak." Jason took her hand.

"It wasn't your fault, Piper. Or Leo's," He added quickly. "Whatever happened, it was Gaea's doing, to drive the two camps apart."

"Maybe if we could explain that, though-"

"With no proof?" Annabeth asked. "And no idea what really happened? I appreciate what you're saying, Piper. I don't want the Romans on our bad side, but until we understand what Gaea's up to, going back is suicide."

"Even I won't be able to gain much ground against them," Zy said. "They doubt my presence as a true goddess, and not some wannabe. I've planted some seeds of doubt, and given Reyna as much of an argument as I can, but the Romans believe what they see, and they won't take our word for it even if we do find a way to explain what happened. Words aren't enough, they need physical proof right in front of them, and Gaea will make sure they don't understand she's a real threat until it's too late. Besides, Octavian will spread lies. Just because he's a descendant of Apollo doesn't mean he knows when someone's lying, or that he'll believe anything that doesn't agree with his needs. It isn't hard to believe that Greeks are liars to the Romans. We're at a major disadvantage when it comes to talking and negotiating. If I have to, I might be able to release the goddess's full form and have her talk it out with the Romans, but that is a last resort. I wouldn't be able to sustain her power or form for more than a few minutes, and the act of doing so would most likely burn me up. She's powerful, but in return she has a hard time taking a physical form."

"She's right," Hazel said. She still looked a little queasy from seasickness, but she was trying to eat a few saltine crackers. She was better than she had been, but she still didn't trust herself to stomach a proper meal. The rim of her plate was embedded with rubies, and I don't know how they got there considering we were on a boat in the sky where no gems should've been, unless Leo put a secret stash of gems under the table. Maybe she was summoning them from the Underworld in her daze of sickness. The Argo II was much bigger than the Pax, and though it still rocked, I felt a lot better and not like the boat was gonna slip and slide too easily, so I wasn't very sick.

"Reyna might listen, but Octavian won't," She continued. "The Romans have honor to think about. They've been attacked. They'll shoot first and ask questions posthac." Piper stared at her vegetarian dinner, but she didn't seem to have much of an appetite. I wondered if she'd seen anything within her knife, Katoptris. That looking glass was just as good as a prophecy, showing things that could happen in the future and give us a path. Granted, bad things could also be seen, and it wouldn't be a surprise if this journey was gonna have a lot of challenges.

"You're right," She decided. "We have to keep going. Not just because of the Romans. We have to hurry." Hazel nodded.

"Nemesis said we have only six days until Nico dies and Rome is destroyed." Jason frowned.

"You mean  _Rome_  Rome, not New Rome?"

"I think. But if so, that's not a lot of time."

"Why six days?" Percy wondered. "And how are they going to destroy Rome?"

"As for Nico, I have a hunch," I said. "For those who don't know, Nico and I have accidently soul bonded. I'm not sure how it works, but if I'm assuming the dreams and visions I'm having are real, I believe that his captors made it so that Nico can only survive for six more days even with my interference. There was something back when Ella told that prophecy. I think Nico has something to do with it. Of course, I don't have enough proof or information to be certain, but I can say that I believe what Nemesis said about six more days. Has anyone else seen anything? If you have, you might be able to confirm a few things for me."

"I've been seeing some things in my knife," Piper admitted. Frank froze with a forkful of spaghetti half way to his mouth.

"Things such as…?"

"They don't really make sense, just garbled images, but I saw two giants, dressed alike. Maybe twins." Then my hunch was correct. Annabeth stared at the magical video feed from Camp Half-Blood on the wall. Right now it showed the living room in the Big House: a cozy fire on the hearth and Seymour, the stuffed leopard head, snoring contentedly above the mantel.

"Twins, like in Ella's prophecy," Annabeth said. "If we could figure out those lines, it might help."

" _Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death,_ " I muttered, gripping my glass tightly. "The twins are probably the ones Piper saw, and the angel who holds the key to endless death…Thanatos said I'd be able to somehow locate the Doors of Death, probably because of my dad, so that's most likely me or Nico, and considering Nico's last name is di Angelo…"

"We'll get him back, Ve," Zy promised. "Let's start from the beginning.  _Wisdom's daughter walks alone, The Mark of Athena burns through Rome._ "

"Annabeth, that's got to mean you," Percy said. "Juno told me…well, she said you had a hard task ahead of you in Rome. She said she doubted you could do it. But I know she's wrong."

"Annabeth's tough all right," Audrey said. "I think she can handle it." Annabeth took a long breath.

"Reyna was about to tell me something right before the ship fired. She said there was an old legend among the Roman praetors - something that had to do with Athena. She said it might be the reason Greeks and Romans could never get along."

"Nemesis mentioned something similar," Leo said. "She talked about an old score that needed to be settled-"

"The one thing that might bring the gods' two natures into harmony," Emily recalled. "'An old wrong finally avenged.'" Percy drew a frowny face in his blue whipped cream.

"I was only praetor for about two hours. Jason, you ever hear a legend like that?" Jason was still holding Piper's hand.

"I…uh, I'm not sure. I'll give it some thought." Percy narrowed his eyes.

"You're not  _sure?_ " Jason didn't respond, but he silently pleaded for it to be discussed later.

"There's a lot in Roman history," I said. "I can barely remember everything in Greek history, and then I have to consider everything in Roman terms. Considering you've been at this demigod thing longer than me, how many times have you been surprised by something? You think you know it all, and then hey presto, something else shows up."

"Let's consider the other lines," Emily said. " _Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death._ "

" _Giants' bane stands gold and pale,_ " Frank added. " _Won through pain from a woven jail._ "

"Giants' bane," Leo said. "Anything that's a giants' bane is good for us, right? That's probably what we need to find. If it can help the gods get their schizophrenic act together, that's good." Percy nodded.

"We can't kill the giants without the help of the gods."

"I thought you guys killed that one giant in Alaska without the gods' help," Jason said.

"Alcyoneus was a special case," Audrey said. "He was only immortal in the territory where he was reborn - Alaska. But not in Canada. Wish I could kill  _all_  giants by dragging them across the border from Alaska to Canada, but, you know." She shrugged. "Percy's right, we'll need the gods."

"Not to mention that even once we get them out of their confused states, Zeus/Jupiter is still not convinced that they need demigods in order to kill the giants," Zy said. "That or we're not worthy of it. We need to go to Rome and save it and all that stuff to prove it to him. Problem with a god like him, he's got more pride than the Romans, with all the gods looking to him as a leader." She spun her ring on the table. "Lots to do, so little time."

"First things first," Leo said, pushing his chair away from the table. "We'll have to put down in the morning to finish repairs."

"Someplace close to a city," Annabeth suggested. "In case we need supplies. But somewhere out of the way, so the Romans will have trouble finding us. Any ideas?"

"The middle of America has a good deal of countryside," Zy said. "We could just stop wherever we are in the morning in some acre of empty land. Unless anyone has some destination in mind."

"Well…" Piper ventured. "How do you guys feel about Kansas?"

* * *

First Person: Lucy

Falling asleep was easier than expected, even though Coach Hedge spent the first hour after curfew doing his nightly duty, walking up and down the passageway yelling "Lights out! Settle down! Try to sneak out, and I'll smack you back to Long Island!" He banged his baseball bat against a cabin door whenever he heard a noise, shouting at everyone to go to sleep, which made it impossible for  _anyone_  to go to sleep. I wasn't bothered by the noise, considering I'd had to fall asleep to worse in the past, but also because I sound-proofed the room, so, yeah.

Emily finally convinced him to go and get some rest himself, and then things were silent enough that I could open my windows and let the breeze flow in. There were barriers that kept the wind from freezing us at high altitudes and such, but I did allow in a nice cool breeze. The combination of the nice rocking of the boat and the drone of the aerial oars as they scooped through the sky was so peaceful, and that with the wind and the slight light from the moon outside made it all too easy for me to fall asleep, especially with the goddess's powers weakening me and causing me to need sleep again for the first time in ages.

I woke up to warmth. More warmth than usual. I shifted and tried to gather my bearings, and suddenly realized that someone was wrapped around me in a protective way. It was actually kinda nice. I'd usually just be able to sleep in back when I was on the streets, and practically became nocturnal. The orphanage sucked since I had to actually wake up at a reasonable time in the morning, and then when I ran away with Kaze, we just slept whenever, never on a cycle. I just wanted to stay here smothered in the warmth of my protector and go back to sleep. It had been so long since I'd slept, thanks to the goddess, and so I didn't know if I had to get up or not. I was voting for the latter.

Suddenly took in what was happening, my mind clearing from its sleepy state. There was someone  _in my freaking bed!_  I grabbed the gun I kept under my pillow and pulled away, but ended up falling off the edge of the bed with a girlish squeak of surprise I will definitely deny later. Just my luck, I ended up hitting the bow and quiver that I'd placed next to my nightstand yesterday, the contact with the bow causing a jolt to spike through me that said  _NO!_  and I scrambled away from it as well, still disoriented, and aiming my gun at any immediate threat. I'd had rude awakenings in the past that had me waking to either monsters or police, but I'd never fallen out of bed before. I remembered I was on the Argo II, and tried to think of what could've possibly gotten into the ship without detection, let alone my room while I was sleeping.

There was a shout of surprise that happened at the same time I jolted away from my intruder, and I suddenly realized I was pointing my weapon at…Zytaveon? He was on my bed, leaning against the wall with his hands up in surrender. He was dressed in his night clothes (just a gray T-shirt and black baggy sweatpants) and he looked just as surprised as I was.

"Why the hell are you in my freaking bed?!" I demanded.

"I don't know! You tell me! I swear I went to sleep in my bed after Hedge's nightly rounds, and suddenly I wake up to you screaming! And you sleep with an f-ing  _gun_  in your bed, woman?!"

"What the heck did you expect?! I'm  _always_  heavily armed in case of sudden intruders in my freaking  _BED!_ "

"Look, I don't know how I got here, so don't blame me, and  _please_  put the gun down." I sighed and clicked the safety on before tossing it on my nightstand next to my dagger before kneeling to collect the arrows scattered from the quiver I'd knocked over. They were weighted admittedly well, and looked the perfect length to be fired from the bow. I was picky about bows and arrows, and always went critical when it came to looking at things like this.

"You must've shadow traveled or something in your sleep. Were you having a nightmare?"

"Uh…well, I don't really know. I can't remember." He put his head in his hands. "I think there was screaming, I'm really drained…" The first night I try and leave him to have his nightmares and he ends up teleporting in his sleep into my room. "Anyway. What time is it?"

"Around five. Maybe four thirty. I usually wake up at first light, thank to the Apollo in me. I can go back to sleep afterwards, but I  _always_  have to wake up with the sun." I placed the quiver upright against the nightstand again and quickly placed the bow next to it. My oath to never use a bow and arrow made it so that any bow I touched gave off a warning signal, a kind of tingle that makes every part of me scream  _RUN!_ and doesn't allow me to hold it for very long before my hand literally spasms out and drops it even without my consent.

"That…that's cool."

"Not really. I'm a girl that likes to sleep in, bud. Wake an Apollo girl any earlier than the sun and we're really cranky."

"That explains why you're never happy in the mornings during winter but are cheery in the mornings during autumn, spring and summer, I guess."

"Yo, Zy, you okay?" I quickly threw the covers over him and walked to the door. I found Audrey, fully dressed in jeans, a purple T-shirt, and her normal blue jacket. She looked like she was wide awake, contrary to Ve who had looked tired as heck.

"Yeah, Dray. What's up?"

"I heard shouting and a thud. Did you and Ve fight again?"

"I woke up and fell out of bed. I thought I'd set my room to sound-proof mode, but apparently not. I ended up falling into a quiver, and falling on a bunch of arrow shafts was not on my bucket list. It hurts, even for a goddess."

"I swear I heard him in here."

"Why are you even up this early?"

"This isn't early. Most of us normal people wake up at four or five for school. Besides, I'm sleeping in water - awesome, by the way, thanks for doing that for me - so I'm more awake and energized than I would be with coffee."

"We aren't normal people, are we? And that thing is awesome, yeah. Wanna wake the others? Go check Ve's room, he's not here."

"Hey, I'm just checking for your sake. Hedge would kill you if two people of the opposite gender are in the same room together alone. Especially if it's a bedroom, and especially if they are dating."

"First off, ever heard of homosexuals? My little brother was homosexual, FYI. Second, how would you know we're dating?"

"I didn't. You just told me."

"Schist. I walked right into that, didn't I?"

"Yep," She said, popping the p.

"Well I'm awake as ever. I wake up with the sun thanks to Apollo. Wanna get breakfast in the dining hall?"

"Sure. Let's get Em and Ve too."

"Let me change."

I quickly changed into jeans, a blue dark blue T-shirt, slipped on my normal jacket and combat boots, along with my fingerless gloves. I clipped on my belt with my bag at my side, slipped my guns in the back, and then headed out with Audrey. We found Emily already up and just about to head out, burning an offering in her hearth like we did at meals back at Camp Half-Blood. She was in jeans, a sleeveless yellow shirt with a floral pattern, and boots. Her necklace with the Hearth of Hestia was showing, and her Dove of Aphrodite pin seemed to change to look perfect on her outfit. Veon came out of his room dressed and ready, with his normal dark attire: back shirt, jeans, combat boots, and an olive green jacket like mine, and half-brushed hair.

"I swear, you two look more like brother and sister with you always dressing the same," Audrey said.

"More like some deadly duo," Veon said.

"In my defense, I still change up my shirt," I said. "Plus, you guys have a distinct look too."

"It's just the life of a demigod," Emily said. "We dress simple because we have more things to worry about. Except the Aphrodite kids maybe."

"Not to mention the combination of armor and normal clothes that we take on in battle or during the games." The four of us grabbed a quick breakfast consisting of waffles, pancakes, and oddly enough gummy bears (because Veon's apparently been craving them since last night) before we headed up to the deck. The breakfast bell rang, signaling the others were up or about to get up.

"Thar she blows!" Hedge shouted. "Kansas, ahoy!"

"You might wanna work on that pirate talk, Coach," Ve said. Leo hurried above deck and found a field where he could land. Piper came above deck last just as the ship's landing gear extended and we set down in the middle of a field of sunflowers. The gangplank lowered itself. The morning air smelled of irrigation, warm plants, and fertilized earth, and it was kinda nice, but not the best in my opinion (bad experience with Demeter). Veon told me stories of being haunted by his step-mom Persephone, so I could tell he was in the same boat as me about agricultural things. It was hard to believe that that goddess was the queen of the Underworld, but then again, there were a lot of things about the gods that were hard to believe.

Percy smiled in greeting as Piper came up. He was wearing faded jeans and a fresh orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, as if he'd never been away from the Greek side. The new clothes had probably helped his mood - and of course the fact that he was standing at the rail with his arm around Annabeth. Annabeth had a sparkle in her eyes that none of us had ever seen. For months she'd been tormenting herself, her every waking moment consumed with the search for Percy. Now, despite the dangerous quest we were facing, at least she had her boyfriend back.

"So!" Annabeth said, plucking a bagel out of Piper's hands and taking a bite. Back at camp, the two of them, Audrey and I had a running joke about stealing each other's breakfasts. "Here we are. What's the plan?"

"I want to check out the highway," Piper said. "Find the sign that says Topeka 32." Leo spun his Wii controller in a circle, and the sails lowered themselves.

"We shouldn't be far," He said. "Festus and I calculated the landing as best we could. What do you expect to find at the mile marker?" She explained how she'd seen an empty highway cutting between fields of wheat and sunflowers in her knife, Katoptris. A mileage marker had read:  **TOPEKA 32**  and on the shoulder of the road stood a man in khaki shorts and a purple camp shirt. She hadn't been able to see his face, as it had been lost in the shadow of a broad hat, the brim wreathed in leafy veins, but he'd held up a silver goblet and beckoned Piper, and she somehow knew it was some kind of gift - a cure, or antidote.

"Purple shirt?" Jason asked. "Vines on his hat? Sounds like Bacchus."

"Dionysus," Percy muttered. "If we came all the way to Kansas to see  _Mr. D-_ "

"Bacchus isn't so bad. I don't like his followers much…" Piper shuddered. Jason, Leo, her and my team had an encounter with the maenads a few months ago. "But the god himself is okay. I did him a favor once up in the wine country." Percy looked appalled.

"Whatever, man. Maybe he's better on the Roman side. But why would he be hanging around in Kansas? Didn't Zeus order the gods to cease all contact with mortals?" Frank grunted. He was wearing a blue tracksuit this morning, like he was ready to go for a jog in the sunflowers.

"The gods haven't been very good at following  _that_  order. Besides, if the gods  _have_  gone schizophrenic like Hazel, Zy and Emily said-"

"And  _Leo_  said," Added Leo. Frank scowled at him.

"Then who knows what's going on with the Olympians? Could be some pretty bad stuff out there."

"Sounds dangerous!" Leo agreed cheerfully. "Well…you guys have fun. I've got to finish repairs on the hull."

"I'll help," I said. "I'm the one that can probably make the most repairs the fastest."

"I'm figuring out this whole tar thing," Veon said. "I can help patch things up too."

"Annabeth, you sort of understand engineering," Leo said. "I could use your help too." Annabeth looked apologetically at Percy.

"He's right. I should stay and help."

"I'll come back to you." He kissed her on the cheek. "Promise." Hm, they must be experts on this stuff. They made this whole relationship thing look easy. Frank slid his bow off his shoulder and propped it against the rail.

"I think I should turn into a crow or something and fly around, keep an eye out for Roman eagles."

"Why a crow?" Leo asked. "Man, if you can turn into a dragon, why don't you just turn into a dragon every time? That's the coolest." Frank's face looked like it was being infused with cranberry juice.

"That's like asking why you don't bench-press your maximum weight every time you lift. Because it's hard, and you'd hurt yourself. Turning into a dragon isn't easy."

"Oh." Leo nodded. "I wouldn't know. I don't lift weights."

"Yeah. Well, maybe you should consider it, Mr.-" Emily stepped between them.

"Okay, we're all not morning people. Let's keep our heads on."

"To be fair, I don't lift weights either," Veon said.

"I can help you Frank," Hazel said, shooting Leo an evil look. "I can summon Arion and scout around below."

"Be careful if you do find something," I warned. "Frank might look inconspicuous to the passerby, but you'll still be noticeable on Arion. If you're seen, try not to lead anyone back to the ship."

"And you should be careful when you when you go out there," Audrey said to Percy. "Lots of fields, lots of crops. Could be karpoi on the loose."

"Karpoi?" Piper asked.

"Grain spirits. You don't want to meet them."

"That leaves me, Jason, Piper, Emily and Audrey," Percy said.

"I call going this time!" Audrey said. "Do you know how boring it was to sit on the ship doing nothing while you guys faced tar monsters and nymphs?"

"It's okay," Emily said. "I can keep troop morale up." Translation: she can keep Frank, Hazel and Leo from tearing each other to bits.

"Sounds like a plan," I said.

"I'm not psyched about seeing Mr. D again," Percy said. "That guy is a pain. But Jason, if you're on better terms with him…"

"Yeah," Jason said. "If we find him, I'll talk to him. Piper, it's your vision. You should take the lead." Piper seemed to shiver at some thought.

"Of course," She said, trying to sound upbeat. "Let's find the highway."


	10. The Wine Dude and The Duel

First Person: Audrey

Leo's definition of "close" must be  _ _way__  different than mine. We trudged half a mile through hot fields, getting bitten by mosquitoes and whacked in the face with scratchy sunflowers, before we finally reached the highway. An old billboard for Bubba's Gas 'n' Grub indicated we were still forty miles from the first Topeka exit.

"Correct my math," Percy said, "but doesn't that mean we have eight miles to walk?"

"I believe it does, brother," I said. Jason peered both ways down the deserted road. He looked much better, his color back to normal and the scar on his forehead almost completely gone. Today he was wearing a purple T-shirt, contrary to Percy's orange one. The two of them were back in their normal colors. I could already tell that they were going to be best friends, leaders from each of their camps. The new gladius that Hera had given him last winter hung at his belt. It was becoming a new fashion trend to wear a scabbard strapped to ones jeans.

"No cars…" Jason muttered. "But I guess we wouldn't want to hitchhike."

"No," Piper agreed, gazing nervously down the highway. "We've already spent too much time going overland. The earth is Gaea's territory."

"Wish I could use Zoltan," I muttered. Jason snapped his fingers.

"I could call a friend for a ride." Percy raised his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah? Me too. Let's see whose friend gets here first."

"Oh brother," I said smiling. Yep, they were gonna be best buds. Jason whistled. Jason had summoned Tempest only three times since we'd met him at the Wolf House last winter, while Blackjack was a reliable pegasus. Still, if both of them came, no matter how fast, we'd take two per horse. I was putting my bets on Blackjack considering I'd seen both horses in action. Percy simply closed his eyes and concentrated. Thunder crackled in the clear sky and Jason smiled.

"Soon."

"Too late." Percy pointed east, where a black winged shape was spiraling toward us.

"A black pegasus?" Piper asked. "Never seen one like that." The winged stallion came in for a landed, trotting over to Percy and I, nuzzling Percy's face then mine.

"Hey Blackjack," I said. "How ya been?" The horse responded. "Yeah, I know right? Eight months without him summoning you." He turned his head inquisitively towards Piper and Jason.

"Blackjack, this is Piper and Jason," Percy introduced. "They're friends." The horse nickered. "Uh, maybe later."

"What does Blackjack want?" Piper asked.

"Donuts," I said. "Always with the donuts. I've spoiled you rotten, haven't I? I looked after him while Percy was gone. I think he likes me more than you, Perce." Suddenly the air turned cold and my ears popped. "Oop, there's the other one." About fifty yards away, a miniature cyclone three stories tall tore across the tops of the sunflowers like a scene from  _ _The Wizard of Oz__. It touched down on the road next to Jason and took the form of a horse - a misty steed with lightning flickering through its body.

"Tempest," Jason said, grinning broadly. "Long time, my friend." The storm spirit reared and whinnied.

"Oh, don't act like you don't love us," I said. Blackjack backed up skittishly.

"Easy boy," Percy said. "He's a friend too." He gave Jason an impressed look. "Nice ride, Grace." Jason shrugged.

"I made friends with him during our fight at the Wolf House. He's a free spirit, literally, but once in a while he agrees to help me."

"Thunder, the other storm spirit, likes Zy I think," I said. "He's happy to help and sometimes drops in even when he's not summoned. He's the guy you don't invite but he shows up anyway. Though he keeps calling her "Lightning," and he's got a mouth like Arion."

"He sounds like a party," Percy said. He and Jason climbed on their respective horses, while I hopped on behind Percy and Piper accepted Jason's hand as she climbed on Tempest. Tempest raced down the road with Blackjack soaring overhead. Fortunately, Tempest didn't pass any cars, or they might have caused a wreck. In no time, we arrived at the 32 mile marker, and Blackjack landed. Both horses pawed at the asphalt, complaining about stopping so suddenly after they'd just found their stride. Blackjack whinnied.

"Right, no sign of the wine dude," Percy said.

"I beg your pardon?" A voice said from the fields. The horses turned so quickly, Piper and I nearly fell off. I was used to being first passenger on Blackjack, and it was annoying how Percy was in front of me. The wheat parted, and Bacchus stepped into view. He wore a wide-brimmed hat wreathed in grapevines, a purple short-sleeved shirt, khaki shorts, and Birkenstocks with white socks. He looked maybe thirty, with a slight potbelly, like a frat boy who hadn't yet realized college was over.

"Did someone just call me the  _ _wine dude?__ " He asked in a lazy drawl. "It's Bacchus, please. Or Mr. Bacchus. Or Lord Bacchus. Or, sometimes, Oh-My-Gods-Please-Don't-Kill-Me, Lord Bacchus." Percy urged Blackjack forward, though the pegasus was clearly unhappy about it.

"You look different," Percy told the god. "Skinnier. Your hair is longer. And your shirt isn't so loud." In the six months that I was at Camp Half-Blood, I had never met the camp director Dionysus, but I'd heard a bit about him. The wine god squinted up at him.

"What in blazes are you talking about? Who are you, and where is Ceres?"

"Uh…what series?"

"I think he means Ceres," Jason said. "The goddess of agriculture. You'd call her Demeter." He nodded respectfully to the god. "Lord Bacchus, do you remember me? I helped you with that missing leopard in Sonoma." Bacchus scratched his stubby chin.

"Ah…yes. John Green."

"Jason Grace."

"Well at least  _ _that's__  the same," I muttered. Apparently Dionysus had called Percy Peter Johnson or something, rarely ever getting his name right, if ever.

"Whatever," The god said. "Did Ceres send you, then?"

"No, Lord Bacchus," Jason said. "Were you expecting to meet her here?" The god snorted.

"Well, I didn't come to Kansas to  _ _party__ , my boy. Ceres asked me here for a council of war. What with Gaea rising, the crops are withering, droughts are spreading, karpoi are in revolt. Even my grapes aren't safe. Ceres wanted a united front in the plant war."

"The plant war?" I asked. "You're going to arm all the little grapes with tiny assault rifles?" The god narrowed his eyes.

"Have we met before?"

"Nope."

"We have," Percy said. "At Camp Half-Blood. I know you as Mr. D - Dionysus."

"Agh!" Bacchus winced and pressed his hands to his temples. For a moment, his image flickered. I saw a different person - fatter, dumpier, in a much louder, leopard-patterned shirt.

"Oh, so that's what you meant by a loud shirt," I muttered. "I was wondering if you'd change back and forth like that." Then Bacchus returned to Bacchus.

"Stop that!" He demanded. "Stop thinking of me in Greek!" Percy blinked.

"Uh, but-"

"Do you have any idea how  _ _hard__  it is to stay focused?! Splitting headaches all the time! I never know what I'm doing or where I'm going! Constantly grumpy!"

"That sounds pretty normal for you." The god's nostrils flared, one of the grape vines on his hat bursting into flame.

"If we know each other from that  _ _other__  camp, it's a wonder I haven't already turned you into a dolphin."

"It was discussed. I think you were just too lazy to do it."

"Percy, do you  _ _always__  agitate the nearest being that has the ability to kill you?" I asked. "What did you do all those months without Annabeth to rein you in?"

"Lord Bacchus!" Piper interrupted, slipping off Tempest's back.

"Piper, careful," Jason warned. She shot him a warning glance:  _ _I've got this__. Truthfully, Piper's charm speak might be the only thing that'll save this guy from turning us to dolphins thanks to Percy.

"Sorry to trouble you, my lord, but actually we came here to get your advice. Please, we need your wisdom." She used her most agreeable tone, pouring respect into her charm speak. While Emily's charm speak was lighter and warming, Piper's was more potent and powerful, both effective in their own way. The god frowned, but the purple glow faded in his eyes.

"You're well-spoken, girl. Advice, eh? Very well. I would avoid karaoke. Really, theme parties in general are out. In these austere times, people are looking for a simple, low-key affair, with locally produced organic snacks and-"

"Not about parties. Although that's incredibly useful advice, Lord Bacchus. We were hoping you'd help us on our quest." She explained about the Argo II and our voyage to stop the giants from waking Gaea. She told him what Nemesis had said: that in six days, Rome would be destroyed. She described the vision she'd seen in her knife where Bacchus offered her a silver goblet.

"Silver goblet?" The god didn't sound very excited. He grabbed a Diet Pepsi from nowhere and popped the top of the can.

"You drink Diet Coke," Percy said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Bacchus snapped. "As to this vision of the goblet, young lady, I have nothing for you to drink unless you want a Pepsi. Jupiter has put me under strict orders to avoid giving wine to minors. Bothersome, but there you have it. As for the giants, I know them well. I fought in the first Giant War, you know."

"You can fight?" Percy asked, sounding incredulous.

"Percy, please shut up," I whispered into his ear. Bacchus growled and his Diet Pepsi transformed into a five-foot staff wreathed in ivy, topped with a pinecone.

"A thyrsus!" I said quickly, hoping to distract the god before he whacked Percy on the head. I'd seen weapons like those in the hands of crazy nymphs, and wasn't thrilled to see one in the hands of a god. "Oh, what a mighty weapon!"

"Indeed," Bacchus agreed. "I'm glad  _ _someone__  in your group is smart. The pinecone is a fearsome tool of destruction! I was a demigod myself in the first Giant War, you know. The son of Jupiter!" Jason flinched. Probably wasn't thrilled to be reminded that the Wine Dude was technically his brother. Bacchus swung his staff through the air, though his pot-belly almost threw him off balance. "Of course, that was long before I invented wine and became immortal. I fought side by side with the gods and some other demigod…Harry Cleese, I think."

"Heracles?" Piper suggested politely.

"Whatever. Anyway, I killed the giant Ephialtes and his brother Otis. Horrible boors, those two. Pinecone in the face for both of them!"

"Lord Bacchus, would those two giants, Ephialtes and Otis…would they happen to be twins?"

"Hmm?" The god seemed distracted by his thyrsus swinging, but he nodded. "Yes, twins. That's right." Piper turned to Jason, and I could tell all our thoughts were going to the same place.  _ _Twins snuff out the angel's breath__. Gods, Veon was worried enough about his brother, but if I was assuming things correctly, the "angel" has to be Nico. These two giants would "snuff out" Nico's breath.

"That's why we're here," Piper told the god. "You're part of our quest!" Bacchus frowned.

"I'm sorry, my girl. I'm not a demigod anymore. I don't  _ _do__  quests."

"But giants can only be killed by heroes and gods working together. You're a god now, and the two giants we have to fight are Ephialtes and Otis. I think…I think they're waiting for us in Rome. They're going to destroy the city somehow. The silver goblet I saw in my vision - maybe it's meant as a symbol for your help. You  _ _have__  to help us kill the giants!" I winced and when Bacchus glared at her, I knew that Piper had chosen her words poorly.

"My girl," He said coldly. "I don't  _ _have__  to do anything. Besides, I only help those who give me proper tribute, which no one has managed to do in many, many centuries." Blackjack whinnied uneasily, warning us that he didn't like this.

"What kind of tribute?" I asked. Bacchus waved his hand dismissively.

"Nothing  _ _you__  could handle. But I will give you some free advice, since these ladies do have  _ _some__  manners. Seek out Gaea's son Phorcys. He always hated his mother, not that I can blame him. He didn't have much use for his siblings, the twins, either. You'll find him in the city they named after that heroine - Atalanta."

"You mean Atlanta?" Piper asked carefully.

"That's the one."

"But this Phorcys," Jason said. "Is he a giant? A Titan?" Bacchus laughed.

"Neither. Seek out the salt water."

"Salt water…in Atlanta?" Percy asked.

"Yes. Are you hard of hearing? If anyone can give you insight on Gaea and the twins, it's Phorcys. Just watch out for him."

"What do you mean?" Jason asked. The god glanced at the sun, which had climbed almost to high noon.

"It's unlike Ceres to be late, unless she sensed something dangerous in this area. Or…" The god's face suddenly went slack. "Or a trap. Well, I must be going! And if I were you, I'd do the same!"

"Lord Bacchus, wait!" Jason protested. The god shimmered and disappeared, with a sound like a soda-can top being popped. The wind rustled through the sunflowers, and the horses paced in agitation. Despite the dry, hot day, I shivered. That cold feeling from before…

"Bacchus is right, we need to leave!"

" _ _Too late__ ," A sleepy voice said, humming through the fields all around us and resonating in the ground beneath us. Percy and Jason drew their swords, and I summoned my new trident. The power of Gaea was everywhere. The sunflowers turned to look at us, the wheat bent toward us like a million scythes. " _ _Welcome to my party. What did Bacchus say? A simple, low-key affair with organic snacks? Yes. For my snacks, I need only two: the blood of a female demigod, and the blood of a male. Piper, my dear, choose which hero will die with you.__ "

"Gaea!" Jason yelled. "Stop hiding in the wheat. Show yourself!"

" _ _Such bravado. But the other one, Percy Jackson, also has appeal. Choose, Piper McLean, or I will.__ "

"Shut it!" I shouted. "She's not choosing anyone, and no one's dying for you!"

" _ _Audrey Mavepo, do you not wonder why I am not choosing between you and Piper? I have use for you, darling, and you're right, you will not die today. However, the others I have not such use for.__ "

"You're insane!" Piper shouted. "I'm not choosing anything for you!" Suddenly Jason and Percy gasped, tensing and sitting up straight on their horses. "Jason! What's wrong-?" He looked down at her, his expression deadly calm. His eyes were no longer blue, but glowing solid gold.

"Percy, help!" But he started to guide Blackjack away from them, stopping thirty feet down the road before wheeling his pegasus around.

"Percy!" I shook him but he didn't respond, raising his sword and pointing the top toward Jason.

" _ _One will die,__ " Percy said, but the voice wasn't his. It was deep and hollow, like someone whispering from inside the barrel of a cannon.

" _ _I will choose,__ " Jason answered, in the same hollow voice.

"No!" Piper yelled. All around us, the fields crackled and hissed, laughing in Gaea's voice as Percy and Jason charged at each other, their weapons ready. I waved my hand and Piper was thrown out of the way just before the boys crossed swords, gold against bronze. I summoned my shield and ducked behind Percy to avoid being hit by their weapons or the sparks between them. I sheathed my trident and held on to Percy tightly as he clashed, but he didn't seem to notice. Their blades blurred - strike and parry - and the pavement trembled. Their first exchange took only a second, but they were so fast. The horses pulled away from each other - Tempest thundering in protest and Blackjack flapping his wings.

"Stop it!" Piper and I shouted together. For a moment, Jason heeded Piper' voice, and his golden eyes turned to her, but then Percy took the opportunity to charge. I grabbed his sword and turned his so the flat of it hit Jason's chest, the impact not slicing, but enough to knock Jason off his mount. Blackjack cantered away as Tempest reared in confusion, the spirit horse charging into the sunflowers and dissipating into vapor. Percy struggled to turn his pegasus around with both me and the horse fighting him.

"Piper! You're the only one who can stop them!" I shouted.

"Percy!" Piper yelled. "Jason's your friend. Drop your weapon!" Percy's sword arm dipped and I grabbed Riptide from him. Jason then got to his feet and roared as a bolt of lightning arced out of the clear blue sky. I barely had time to uncap my water bottle and throw up a shield of water before it struck us. It caused my water shield to explode, and we were both sent off the horse from the force. If not for my training with Zy (who used lightning bolts  _ _very__  often) I wouldn't have been able to shield us in time. Blackjack whinnied and fled into the wheat fields. Jason charged at us, aiming for Percy, who was now on top of me, his clothes smoking. I summoned my trident and blocked his sword while Percy tried to recover.

" _ _You must choose one,__ " Gaea whispered. " _ _Why not let Jason kill him?__ "

"No!" Piper screamed. "Jason, stop!" He froze in his attack, turning to Piper, the gold light in his eyes flickering uncertainly.

" _ _I cannot stop. One must die.__ " That voice wasn't Gaea's, and it wasn't Jason. They spoke haltingly, as if English was its second language, kind of like when Zy went on a rant in when she was angry, going from Japanese, to Chinese, to Russian, and around and around before she calmed and tried to switch back to English.

"Who are you?" I demanded. Jason's mouth twisted in a gruesome smile.

" _ _We are the eidolons. We will live again.__ "

"Eidolons…?" Those were the things that Zy and Veon always talked about when they went to their videogame-nerd mode. It was a creature from Valhalla, the Norse version of the Underworld. Maybe the videogame had different lore than the real legends and maybe Norse eidolons were different than Greek ones, but I had heard them rant on and on about them and play enough of Final Fantasy XIII while I was in the room to understand the basics.

"So you're some kind of ghost," I summed up.

" _ _He must die,__ " Jason said. Percy had recovered more than any of us had realized, and swept out his leg to knock Jason off his feet. Jason's head hit the asphalt with a nauseating  _ _conk__ , and Percy rose.

"Stop it!" Piper screamed again, but there was no charm speak in her voice. She was shouting in sheer desperation. I still had Riptide in my hand, and Percy attempted to get it back. I quickly waved my hand and tried to take control of Percy's blood. This technique was cool, but also scary. I couldn't let Percy's blood stop flowing properly. I could probably knock him out by stopping the flow of oxygenated blood to his head for a moment, but even a few seconds of oxygen deprivation could cause permanent damage, something I wasn't willing to risk on my brother. I managed to make him freeze in his attempts to grab Riptide, and took a few steps back.

"Percy…"

" _ _Give me that.__ " His eyes were gold like Jason's instead of green, and his face was pale and cruel, so unlike Percy. I swallowed and breathed. Acting was something I knew how to do, and I could talk this out as long as I had the thing's attention. I'm pretty sure Jason was knocked out from his fall, and Piper was the real talker here, so now I just needed to buy a few seconds for her to come up with a plan.

"No."

" _ _You are not wise.__ "

"I've got a 4.0 GPA, dumbass. I'm smarter than you."

" _ _G…P…A…? Four?__ "

"See what I mean?"

" _ _Enough__." He lunged forward, and I held him back with his blood, hoping that I wasn't doing any damage.

"Eidolon, stop!" Piper suddenly demanded, her voice full of anger and power. Percy stopped of his own will and I released him, not wanting to have control over his blood and risk things anymore than I needed to. "Face me." Percy turned to her, and I touched my finger to Riptide's tip, shrinking it down into a pen.

" _ _You have not chosen, so this one will die.__ "

"You're a spirit from the Underworld. You're possessing Percy Jackson. Is that it?" Percy, or the eidolon, sneered.

" _ _I will live again in this body. The Earth Mother has promised. I will go where I please, control whom I wish.__ "

"Leo…" I realized. "That's what happened to Leo. He was being controlled by an eidolon." The thing in Percy's form laughed without humor.

" _ _Too late you realize. You can trust no one. Even the one who knew, did not tell you.__ " The one who knew? Zyanya? She had her reasons for keeping things secret, I knew. She knew more than she should, therefore she had to keep things to herself, bound by the same laws as the other gods, since apparently the Fates were scary when you defied them. Behind us, something rustled in the wheat, and Percy began to turn around. I signaled frantically for Piper to stop him.

"Ignore it!" She yelped. "Look at me." Percy obeyed, and I began to slowly back towards Blackjack, who emerged from the wheat field, moving with surprising stealth for such a large animal.

" _ _You cannot stop me. I will kill Jason Grace__." He reached into his pocket and pulled out Riptide once more, and I realized that I'd walked too far away and the pen was no longer in my hand. He flicked the cap off with his thumb and the sword appeared once more. Dammit, Riptide! I say this as though the sword will react to my scolding. Moving on.

"You won't kill him," Piper ordered, but she wasn't looking to Percy. She locked eyes with the pegasus, pouring all her power into her words and hoping Blackjack would understand. "You will knock him out." The charm speak washed over Percy, and even washed over me. Percy shifted his weight indecisively.

" _ _I…will knock him out?__ "

"Oh, sorry." Piper smiled. "I wasn't walking to you." Blackjack reared and brought his hoof down on Percy's head. He crumpled to the pavement next to Jason. "Oh, gods!" Piper ran to the boys. "Blackjack, you didn't  _ _kill__  him, did you?" The pegasus snorted.

" _ _Please, I know my own strength, girl.__ "

"He says he was careful," I said. I grabbed Riptide and shrunk it down to a pen. Hm, I wonder if my dagger would come back to me if I lost it. I was never one to lose the only weapon I had, and I'd never parted with it, at least until New Rome, of course, where even Riptide stayed put thanks to Terminus. I'd have to test it out. I looked to Percy, and though there wasn't any blood, a large knot was forming where the horse had kicked him. Jason was breathing steadily, but two knocks on the skull in two days could  _ _not__  be healthy.

"We need to get them back to the ship," Piper said.

"Agreed." Blackjack bobbed his head in agreement as well, and knelt to the ground so that we could get Percy and Jason on his back. I transformed into water and lugged them on (unconscious boys were heavy) and Piper sat on to hold them steady for the ride. I got on as a snake of water and held onto Percy so that I was both lightweight and effective, and we took off for the ship. As expected, the others were a little surprised to find us coming back on a pegasus with two unconscious demigods.

"So, I'm guessing your guys had fun," Zy said sarcastically. While Frank and Hazel tended to Blackjack, Annabeth, Emily, Leo and Zy helped get the boys to the sickbay.

"At this rate, we're going to run out of ambrosia," Coach Hedge grumbled. "How come I never get invited on these violent trips?" I used some salt water to save on supplies and heal Percy. I'd been learning from Zy how to heal others with water, but luckily Percy was self-healing when it came to dumping a bowl of the liquid onto him unceremoniously. I made sure the water stayed on him and only him so I didn't make a mess, but it was fun to just dump a bowl of water onto my brother's face. Felt like I was pulling a prank on him. Despite the cold water, he didn't wake up from having it splashed onto him, but it did heal him. I used some water to heal Jason too, but it was taxing considering he wasn't a son of a sea god and I wasn't used to the technique. It saved supplies, got the job done, and gave me some practice, so I wasn't complaining.

"They're gonna be fine," Zy said, checking each of their wrists like she was reading their fortunes. "They took a couple bad hits, but they're in better condition than they may have been. According to what records I'm getting from them, they've survived worse. Man, that's a lot of previous incidents."

"Better not tell them who's survived more," I said. "No doubt they'd make it into a competition."

"Yeah, that's called patient confidentiality, and it's there for a reason. In any case, they should be up and about in no time."

"Leo, are we ready to sail?" Piper asked, sitting at Jason's side.

"Yeah, but-"

"Set course for Atlanta. I'll explain later."

"But…okay." Annabeth didn't argue with Piper either. She was too busy examining the horseshoe-shaped dent on the back of Percy's head.

"What  _ _hit__  him?" She demanded.

"Blackjack," I said.

" _ _What?!__ " Piper and I tried to explain as best we could before the boys both groaned and opened their eyes. Within a few minutes, the Jason and Percy were sitting up in their berths and able to talk in complete sentences. Zy insisted on doing a couple tests to check their mental state, from " _ _How many fingers am I holding up?__ " to " _ _Who are the 12 Olympian gods? List both Greeks and Romans.__ " to " _ _How many half-bloods does it take to screw in a light bulb?__ "

"Uh, one?" I guessed.

"None. Even a mortal can screw in a light bulb without the help of a half-blood."

"Isn't this a little overkill?" Percy asked.

"She'll fret over a paper cut," Jason said. "Just go with it."

"As an Apollo medic, I can sense the pain from even a paper cut, therefore I fix it," She said dramatically with her arms crossed. "When it comes to my family, I'm picky about these things. You don't know what a single paper cut can do to you. It can allow infections if you're not careful, and infections mean you'll be out of commission or off you're a-game, and during a quest, that could mean the difference between success or failure. A paper cut could end the world, my friends."

"You make a valid argument," I said. She nodded in approval and Emily laughed. We explained what had happened back to where the boys' last memories were and what happened. Both had fuzzy memories of what had happened, and when we described the duel on the highway, Jason winced.

"Knocked out twice in two days," Jason muttered. "Some demigod."

"Hey, I've had patients knocked out twice in two minutes," Zy said. "You're doing fine, bud." He looked sheepishly at Percy and I.

"Sorry, man. I didn't mean to blast you guys." Percy's shirt was burnt, and his hair was even more disheveled than normal, but other than that we were fine.

"Percy took most of the hit," I said. "And my water shield helped protect him from the worst of the attack. We know you weren't yourself."

"What they got hit with was mostly the force of the bolt," Zy explained. "Even if the lightning's heat and electricity was blocked by Audrey's shield, lightning still holds a great deal of force alone. It doesn't have to zap someone to knock them back. Take it from an expert on electricity."

"It's not the first time," Percy said, smiling. "Your big sister got me good once at camp."

"Yeah, but…I could have killed you," Jason said.

"Or I could've killed you." Jason shrugged.

"If there'd been an ocean in Kansas, maybe."

"I don't need an ocean-"

"Boys," Emily interrupted. "I'm sure you both would've been  _ _wonderful__  at killing each other. But right now you need some rest."

"Put the boys of the Big Three in a duel, who'd you think would win?" I asked.

"Zytaveon," Zy said. Both Percy and Jason grumbled, but didn't argue, making me laugh.

"Can we get food first?" Percy requested. "Please? And we really need to talk. Bacchus said some things that don't-"

"Bacchus?" Annabeth asked, raising her hand. "Okay, fine. We need to talk. Mess hall. Ten minutes. I'll tell the others. And please, Percy…change your clothes. You smell like you've been run over by an electric horse."

"Actually the electric horse ran off when Jason was knocked off," I said. "It was Blackjack that whacked him."


	11. Eidolons

First Person: Emily

Piper explained to me she'd seen some images in her knife, Katoptris, "looking glass." Octavian was urging the Romans to go to war, not surprisingly, and I hoped that Reyna could hold down the fort. She told me all about the things she'd seen in her knife, despite the horror within them, though she didn't tell anyone else, not yet. She couldn't hide the turmoil within her from me, and when she used charm speak to say she was fine, I was the only one unaffected and knew things were haunting her. I got her to confess to me what she saw, and even show me them as well, and I comforted her as best I could, keeping the things I saw secret and contemplating what they could mean.

She'd seen things like Jason riding into battle on horseback, his eyes gold instead of blue. That explained what had just happened back at the highway, so cross that off the list. There was a woman in an old-fashioned Southern belle dress, standing in an Oceanside park with palm trees; a bull with the face of a bearded man, rising out of a river; and two giants in matching yellow togas, hoisting a rope on a pulley system, lifting a large bronze vase out of a pit. That was the vision of the twins she'd mentioned, and that large bronze vase…Veon had confessed to me that he'd seen a vision of Nico in a bronze jar. I was putting together pieces, and the ability to sense the worry in people got them to confess things to me when I asked. They knew they couldn't keep things from me, and having all this knowledge was useful in gathering all the information I could.

The worst one was one of herself, Jason, Percy and Audrey, standing waist-deep in water at the bottom of a dark circular chamber, like a giant well. Ghostly shapes moved through the water as it rose rapidly. Piper clawed at the walls, trying to escape, but there was nowhere to go. The water had reached their chest, Jason was pulled under, Percy stumbled and disappeared. Audrey turned to water and then created a bubble around Piper's head before the water rose above them both. We didn't know or understand how children of the sea god could drown, but Piper had only told me about them back at Camp Half-Blood, and how she still didn't understand some of them. The things that I did understand were grave, but I kept a positive outlook. I didn't reveal anything before anyone else, as Zy requested I stay silent until the seven figured things out on their own. I now understood what she was going through, wanting to tell what I knew, but unable to because I knew it wouldn't do any good.

Leo gave the helm to Coach Hedge again, after making the satyr promise he would not steer us to the nearest military base "for fun." We gathered around the dining table, and Piper and Audrey explained what happened at  **TOPEKA 32**  - their conversation with Bacchus, the trap sprung by Gaea, the eidolons that had possessed the boys.

"Of course!" Hazel slapped the table, which startled Frank so much, he dropped his burrito. "That's what happened to Leo too!"

"So it wasn't my fault," Leo said, exhaling in relief. "I didn't start World War Three. I just got possessed by an evil spirit. That's a relief!"

"But the Romans don't know that," Annabeth said. "And why would they take our word for it?"

"We could contact Reyna," Jason suggested. "She would believe us." Piper's heart sank from hearing the way Jason said her name. He turned to her with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. "You could convince her, Pipes. I know you could." So Jason still didn't understand how Reyna totally liked him, or how he was still giving off that vibe that he liked her too? Annabeth looked at Piper sympathetically as if to say:  _Boys are so clueless_ , and even Hazel winced. Zy gave an eye roll, Audrey smiled like:  _Seriously?_  and even Veon just shook his head. I just sighed and tried to send waves of comfort to Piper.

"I could try," She said halfheartedly. "But Octavian is the one we have to worry about. In my dagger, I saw him taking control of the Roman crowd. I'm not sure Reyna can stop him." Jason's expression darkened and I felt a pang of anger and helplessness from the group. Zy spun a dagger on the table.

"Octavian can't be helped. I'd like to kill that augur myself, I'm sure many people would, but like it or not, we can't do anything about him right now. The Romans believe the Greeks are evil, and it's not going to be easy to convince them otherwise. Octavian's taking advantage of the situation and spreading lies about the Greeks, ones that seem more and more convincing with the attack that happened. I've given Reyna a good argument, but it's hard to counter a full blown attack with words, especially with Romans."

"She's right," Frank said. "This afternoon when we were scouting, we saw eagles again. They were a long way off, but closing fast. Octavian is on the warpath." Hazel grimaced.

"This is exactly the sort of opportunity Octavian has always wanted. He'll try to seize power. If Reyna objects, he'll say she's soft on the Greeks. As for those eagles…it's like they could smell us."

"They can," Zy said. "Roman eagles can hunt demigods by their magical scent even better than monsters can. This ship might conceal us somewhat, but not completely - not from them." Leo drummed his fingers.

"Great. I should have installed a smoke screen that makes the ship smell like a giant chicken nugget. Remind me to invent that next time." Hazel frowned.

"What is a chicken nugget?"

"Oh man…" Leo shook his head in amazement. "That's right. You've missed the last like, 70 years. Well, my apprentice, a chicken nugget-"

"Doesn't matter," Annabeth interrupted. "The point is, we'll have a hard time explaining the truth to the Romans. Even if they believe us-"

"You're right," Jason said, leaning forward. "We should just keep going. Once we're over the Atlantic, we'll be safe - at least from the legion."

"How can you be sure?" Piper asked. "Why wouldn't they follow us?" He shook his head.

"You heard Reyna talking about the ancient lands. They're much too dangerous. Roman demigods have been forbidden to go there for generations. Even Octavian couldn't get around that rule."

"Plus, we destroyed the entire Roman navy," Audrey said smiling. Veon laughed.

"Yeah."

"We have a navy?" Jason asked.

"Not anymore."

"Point is, Romans don't like water," Zy said, taking a bite of her sandwich. "They're not big fans of Neptune, and Neptune is not a big fan of them." Frank swallowed a bite of burrito like it had turned to cardboard in his mouth.

"So if  _we_  go to the ancient lands…"

"We'll be outlaws as well as traitors," Jason confirmed. "Any Roman demigod would have the right to kill us on sight. But I wouldn't worry about that. If we get across the Atlantic, they'll give up on chasing us. They'll assume that we'll die in the Mediterranean - the Mare Nostrum." Percy pointed his pizza slice at Jason.

"You, sir, are a ray of sunshine." Jason didn't argue. The other demigods stared at their plates, except for Percy, who continued to enjoy his pizza. Where he put all that food, I didn't know. That guy could eat like a satyr.

"Actually, Emily's the ray of sunshine," Audrey said, popping a grape into her mouth.

"No, Zy is," Veon said firmly. "She's the Apollo girl."

"Why thank you, good sir," Zy said with a scowl. "I'm about as much of a ray of sunshine as your father."

"Well, if we can survive as l'Cie, and traitors of Spira, we can survive anything," Veon said. The seven of the prophecy stared at him, while Zy was staring at her sandwich with a smile forcing its way across her face, Audrey rolled her eyes, and I nodded.

"That's the spirit."

"Excuse me?" Jason asked.

"Final Fantasy always makes us the outlaws, the so called "traitors." As long as we're doing the right thing, being a traitor doesn't matter. We stop Gaea and the giants, and that's the physical proof we need to show that we aren't."

"That sounds like a plan," Zy said.

"If anyone thinks it's hopeless, it just means we don't have enough information. There's always something we don't know, there's always more to the picture, and there's always a way out."

"So let's plan ahead and make sure we  _don't_  die," Percy suggested. "Mr. D - Bacchus - ugh, do I have to call him Mr.  _B_  now? Anyway, he mentioned the twins in Ella's prophecy. Two giants. Otis and, uh, something that started with an F?"

"Eh-fee-alt-tees," Audrey tried.

"Ephialtes," Jason confirmed.

"Twin giants, like Piper saw in her blade…" Annabeth ran her finger along the rim of her cup. "I remember a story about twin giants. They tried to reach Mount Olympus by piling up a bunch of mountains." Frank nearly choked.

"Well, that's great. Giants who can use mountains like building blocks. And you say Bacchus killed these guys with a pinecone on a stick?"

"Something like that," Percy said.

"He said they both  _deserved_  a pinecone in the face," Audrey remembered. "But I don't think we should count on his help this time. He wanted a tribute, and he made it pretty clear it would be a tribute we couldn't handle."

"The gods are stubborn as hell," Zy said. "Even though they need our help in order to defeat the giants, just as much as we need them, they'll only take the heroes they feel are worthy of their help, and they'll most likely not help in fighting a giant till the last second. We do all the dirty work, and once we've  _finally_ "proven" ourselves, the god will go and finish off the giant without breaking a sweat and then take all the glory. Still, perhaps we could find a way to give Bacchus a proper offering. In the end, he needs our help as to defeat the twins much as we need his. It will be far from easy, but it's not impossible."

"She wants two of us…" Piper murmured. Everyone looked to her, but I felt this strange feeling, as though more than ten people were in the room. I felt two people's different emotions and thoughts within Jason, Percy, and Leo. The eidolons were still here! Great, how were we supposed to get them out of our crew permanently? Piper had had some influence over them back on the highway, so maybe that would work if the two of us commanded them.

"Today on the highway," Piper continued as I began to devise a plan. "Gaea told us that she needed the blood of only two demigods - one female, one male. She…she asked me to choose which boy would die." Jason squeezed her hand.

"But neither of us died. You saved us."

"I know. It's just…why would she want that?" Leo whistled softly.

"Guys, remember at the Wolf House? Our favorite ice princess, Khione? She talked about spilling Jason's blood, how it would taint the place for generations."

"Demigod blood holds great power," Zy said.

"Oh…" Percy set down his third pizza slice. He leaned back and stared at nothing, as if the horse kick to his head had just now registered.

"Percy?" Annabeth asked, gripping his arm.

"Oh, bad…" He muttered. "Bad. Bad. You guys remember Polybotes?"

"The giant who invaded camp Jupiter," Hazel said. "The anti-Poseidon you whacked in the head with a Terminus statue. Yes, I think I remember."

"I had a dream when we were flying to Alaska. Polybotes was talking to the gorgons, and he said…said he wanted to take me and Audrey prisoner, not killed. He said: "I want those two chained at my feet so I can kill them when the time is ripe. Their blood shall water the stones of Mount Olympus and wake the Earth Mother!" That means…"

"But Gaea said she couldn't use my blood, back at the highway," Audrey said.

"When Gaea took me into the earth and spoke to me, it was like she just realized I existed, like she'd just gotten a good look at me for the first time," Veon said.

"Ever since I met you in high school, I've worked to mask your powers and scent from Gaea," Zy said. "My team is extremely valuable to Gaea alive, but that doesn't mean she can't still spill your blood even if you don't die from it. Piper was more of a convenience. If she and you were both there, then she could spill Piper's blood and keep you as well. Besides, I doubt Polybotes had been given a lot of information. He must've just been ordered to capture two demigods, a female and a male, Percy being the male, and Audrey naturally fell as his choice for a female."

"You think the giants would use our blood…" Piper began. "The blood of two of us-"

"I don't know," Percy said. "But until we figure it out, I suggest we all try to avoid getting captured." Jason grunted.

" _That_  I agree with."

"But how do we figure it out?" Hazel asked. "The Mark of Athena, the twins, Ella's prophecy…how does it all fit together?"

"We need to gather more information," Zy said. "It pains me to say it, but I'm just as limited as the gods when it comes to information. I can't reveal anything you don't learn on your own, unless I want the Fates on my tail. There's a lot we're missing here, more pieces to this puzzle that will connect everything. Perhaps a night of rest will give you all some dreams that hold more information. What's the current plan for information right now?"

"We're going to Atlanta for Phorcys," I recalled.

"I didn't recognize the name at first, but when Bacchus mentioned salt water, it rang a bell," Percy said. "Phorcys is an old sea god from before my dad's time. Never met him, but supposedly he's a son of Gaea. I still don't understand what a sea god would be doing in Atlanta." Leo snorted.

"What's a wine god doing in Kansas? Gods are weird."

"He's got a point there," Ve said.

"Anyway, we should reach Atlanta by noon tomorrow, unless something  _else_  goes wrong."

"Don't even say that," Annabeth muttered. "It's getting late. Everyone should probably get some sleep."

"Wait," I said. "There's one last thing. The eidolons - the possessing spirits. They're still here, in this room. Think of it, no one told them to go away, and if they're possessing spirits, they're most likely still here hiding dormant in us."

"Eidolons of Greek mythology aren't much different from that of Norse," Zy said. "They originated Greek, I believe."

"But the ones in Norse are good," Veon said. "At least in thirteen."

"Remember that in thirteen, we are considered the bad guys."

"Oh. Point."

"The lore of eidolons follow the same pattern. They are shades, phantoms, ghosts. Eidolons come from people, they actually start out as someone, but depending on who that someone is, depends on what afterlife they will originate from. In Valhalla, the law is that the weak serve the strong, and eidolons will obey the will of those that defeat them in combat. In the  _Underworld_  there isn't a law such as that, but the eidolons will take any means necessary to live again, including serving Gaea. I don't believe these ones going to just go away because we knocked out their hosts, and they're not honor bound by the law of Valhalla."

"So…" Frank rubbed his hand across his buzz-cut hair as if some ghosts might have invaded his scalp. "You think these things are lurking on the ship, or-"

"Possibly lurking inside some of us," Piper said. "We don't know."

"I think I can find them," I said. "I can sense all of your emotions and feelings, basically a kind of distinctness that I can identify as you through my powers. I know you all well enough from our time together, and I can sense a change, someone different, a kind of second layer of feelings and personality."

"So what do we do about it?" Veon asked.

"I can utilize the Hymn of the Fayth in order to draw them out," Zy offered. "It's a song used to calm the souls of the dead. It should keep them docile. Meanwhile, I suggest Piper and Emily get talking. Get some answers out of them. If you make them promise on the River Styx, they will have to honor it. Even they don't dare defy Styx. Veon, please join me for the lower part, and boys, try not to freak out." She sat up straight and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Veon sighed before doing the same.

" _Ieyui~_  
" _Nobomeno~_  
" _Renmiri~_  
" _Yojuyogo~_  
" _Hasatekanae~_  
" _Kutamae~_ "

Their voices seemed to vibrate through the entire room, a hum that sent a chill throughout my entire body. Leo, Percy and Jason all suddenly tensed before their faces went slack and they sat up straight. Their eyes had turned glassy and gold, but they seemed enchanted by the singing as the two of them repeated the hymn. Hazel caught her breath. Next to Leo, Frank scrambled out of his chair and put his back against the wall.

"Oh gods," Annabeth muttered, looking to Piper and I. "Can you cure them?"

"Are there more of you this ship?" I asked.

" _No_ ," Leo said in a hollow voice. " _The Earth Mother sent three. The strongest, the best. We will live again._ "

"Not here you won't," Piper growled. "All three of you listen carefully." I could sense Piper's fear as the three boys turned to her with their golden eyes, but also the anger that pushed her to continue. "You will leave those bodies."

" _No,_ " Percy said. Leo let out a soft hiss.

" _We must live._ " Frank fumbled for his bow.

"Mars Almighty, that's creepy! Get out of here, spirits! Leave our friends alone!" Leo turned towards him.

" _You cannot command us, child of war. Your own life is fragile. Your soul could burn at any moment._ " Frank staggered like he'd been punched in the gut. He drew an arrow, his hands shaking.

"I-I've faced down worse things than you. If you want a fight-"

"Frank, don't," Hazel warned, rising. Next to her, Jason drew his sword. Zy opened her eyes, and revealed they were pure white and glowing. The volume of her singing increased, and it seemed to send a wave of intensity through the room. Jason sat down again, as though he forgot what was happening, and Leo looked away from Frank, staring forward at nothing. The three possessed boys seemed enchanted by the song.

"Everyone, stand down," I ordered. The others were feeling the intensity of the song as well, and they all obeyed my command to calm. "Eidolons, you  _will_  leave those bodies." Jason's face tightened, his forehead beaded with sweat.

" _We…we will leave these bodies._ "

"You will vow on the River Styx never to return to this ship and never to possess any member of this crew." Leo and Percy both hissed in protest.

"You will promise on the River Styx," Piper insisted. There was a moment of tension as I felt their wills fighting the song and our words, but it only lasted a second as the song washed over them and snuffed out any flame of resistance.

" _We promise on the River Styx,_ " The three eidolons said in unison.

"You are dead," Piper said.

" _We are dead,_ " They agreed.

"Now please leave," I ordered. All three boys slumped forward. Percy fell face-first into his pizza.

"Percy!" Annabeth grabbed him. Piper and Hazel caught Jason's arms as he slipped out of his chair. Leo fell towards Frank, who made no attempt to intercept him. I quickly dived and caught him just before he face planted. Zy closed her eyes and ceased her song, and Veon stopped to catch her as she wobbled from exhaustion.

"Are you all right?" Hazel asked. Leo pulled himself up.

"Did it work?"

"It worked," Piper said. "I don't think they'll be back." Jason blinked.

"Does that mean I can stop getting head injuries now?" Piper laughed, and I sensed her exhaling all her nervousness.

"Come on, Lightning Boy. Let's get you some fresh air." She took Jason out to the deck. Leo headed off to the helm to talk to Festus through the intercom. We got the satellite TV up again, so Coach Hedge headed to his cabin happily catch up on his mixed martial arts cage matches. Percy's pegasus Blackjack had flown off somewhere, and the others decided to turn in as well.

Audrey and I stood at the railing of the ship watching the night sky. The Argo II was racing east, cruising several hundred feet above the ground. Below us, small towns passed by like lit-up islands in a dark sea of prairie. The night was warm, and the ship sailed nice and smoothly. Jason and Piper were at the other side of the ship in their own little world, while Audrey and I talked and pretended to not notice.

"So they're finally dating?" I asked.

"Yep. Not that you'd know it just from looking at them." She sighed. "What info have you gathered?"

"I got Annabeth to tell me about this encounter she had with her mom. Athena was angry at her for trying to make peace with the Romans, saying that she'd failed Athena in some way, and told her to "Follow the Mark of Athena" and "Avenge" her. She gave Annabeth some coin, a silver drachma with an owl with an olive branch on one side and a Greek inscription on the other. It seems to return to her like Riptide, though she doesn't know what it means. Athena was angry at the Romans for turning her into Minerva, that was obvious enough. I got Jason to tell me about that legend. He says he doesn't know the details, but there was some story about the Romans stealing something important from the Greeks back when the Romans conquered the Greek's cities. He doesn't know what it is, but he knows that the Greeks have always hated the Romans for it, the children of Athena in particular. The legend says that the children of Athena have been searching for this thing for millennia, and they're led to Rome by a sign - the Mark of Athena. Apparently if the Greeks ever found what was stolen, they'd never forgive the Romans and they'd destroy the legion and Rome. Also, Piper's seen some scary things in her dagger, including you, Jason, her, and Percy drowning."

"What can you piece together of the prophecy from everything you've gathered?"

"There's some big token that the Romans stole from the Greeks, something involving Athena. It's Annabeth's job to recover it from Rome by following the Mark of Athena. Those two giants have Nico captive in a bronze jar, according to Veon, and he has until July first with all the pomegranate seeds Veon was able to give him. The pomegranate seeds are keeping him alive since they're from Persephone's garden, apparently. The giants' bane is this thing Annabeth has to find, and Annabeth has to win it by capturing something in a woven jail. That's all I can figure out right now. I'm gonna do some research on what enemies there are of Athena and what the Mark of Athena even is. My hunch is that whatever it is might be able to solve the issue of the Greeks and Romans if we play our cards right. There's a lot we need to do, and a lot to worry about. As for defeating the twins, Bacchus definitely is involved, but I have no clue what kind of offering we can give him."

"Maybe we can give him a boat load of Diet Pepsi."

"You never know with the gods. Where would we get that amount of Diet Pepsi?"

"Uh, a couple hundred convenience stores? He did say no one's been able to offer him that in many centuries. Maybe it's just because there wasn't anyone willing to get a bunch of Diet Pepsi from everywhere in the U.S. and give it all to him."

"I doubt there was that much Diet Pepsi in the world a hundred years ago."

"Either way, we'll have to figure out something."

"We'd better get to sleep. Maybe our dreams will give us more info."

"Here's hoping. Night Em."


	12. To Save Nico di Angelo

First Person: Audrey

I stood in a vast gloomy space like an underground parking garage. Rows of stone pillars marched off in every direction, holding up the ceiling about twenty feet above. Freestanding braziers cast a dim red glow over the floor. I couldn't see very far in the shadows, but hanging from the ceiling were pulley systems, sandbags, and rows of dark theater lights. Piled around the chamber, wooden crates were labeled  **PROPS** ,  **WEAPONS** , and  **COSTUMES**. One read:  **ASSORTED ROCKET LAUNCHERS**. There was machinery creaking in the darkness, huge gears turning, and water rushing through pipes.

Then I saw the giant, or at least, I  _think_  it was a giant. He was about twelve feet tall - a respectable height for a Cyclops, but only half as tall as the other giants we'd dealt with. He also looked more human than a typical giant, without the dragon-like legs of his larger kin. Nevertheless, his long purple hair was braided in a ponytail of dreadlocks, woven with gold and silver coins, which struck me as a giant-ish hairstyle. He had a ten-foot spear strapped to his back - a giant-ish weapon. He wore the largest black turtleneck I'd ever seen, black pants, and black leather shoes with points so long and curly, they might have been jester slippers. He paced back and forth in from of a raised platform, examining a bronze jar. That was the bronze jar Nico was in, I just knew it, and that mean this must've been…

"No, no, no," The giant muttered to himself. "Where's the splash? Where's the value? Otis!" There was some shuffling in the distance before another giant appeared out of the gloom. He wore exactly the same black outfit, right down to the curly shoes. The only difference between the two giants was that the second one's hair was green rather than purple. They were definitely twins, their faces also identical along with their wardrobe. The first giant, who had to be Ephialtes since the second was Otis, cursed. "Otis, why do you do this to me  _every day?_  I told you  _I_  was wearing the black turtleneck today. You could wear anything  _but_  the black turtleneck!" Otis blinked as if he'd just woken up.

"I thought you were wearing the yellow toga today."

"That was yesterday! When  _you_  showed up in the yellow toga!"

"Oh. Right. Sorry, Ephie." He brother snarled.

"And don't call me Ephie," Ephie demanded. "Call me  _Ephialtes_. That's my name. Or you can use my stage name: The BIG F!" I snickered and hoped they couldn't hear me. Otis grimaced.

"I'm still not sure about that stage name."

"Nonsense! It's perfect. Now, how are the preparations coming along?"

"Fine," Otis said, not sounding very enthusiastic. "The man-eating tigers, the spinning blades…but I still think a few ballerinas would be nice."

"No ballerinas! And  _this_  thing." He waved at the bronze jar in disgust. "What does it do? It's not exciting."

"But that's the whole point of the show. He dies unless the others rescue him. And if they arrive on schedule-"

"Oh, they'd better! July first, the Kalends of July, sacred to Juno. That's when mother wants to destroy those stupid demigods and  _really_  rub it on Juno's face. Besides, I'm not paying overtime for those gladiator ghosts!"

"Well, then, they all die, and we start the destruction of Rome. Just like mother wants. It'll be perfect. The crowd will love it. Roman ghosts adore this sort of thing." Ephialtes looked unconvinced.

"But the jar just  _stands_  there. Couldn't we suspend it above a fire, or dissolve it in a pool of acid or something?"

"We need him alive for a few more days. Otherwise, the seven won't rush to save him."

"Hmm. I suppose. I'd still like a little more screaming. This slow death is boring. Ah, well, what about our talented friend? Is she ready to receive her visitor?" Otis made a sour face.

"I  _really_  don't like talking to her. She makes me nervous."

"But is she ready?"

"Yes," Otis said reluctantly. "She's been ready for centuries. No one will be removing  _that_  statue."

"Excellent." Ephialtes rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "This is our big chance, my brother."

"That's what you said about our last stunt," Otis mumbled. "I was hanging in that block of ice suspended over the River Lethe for six months, and we didn't even get any media attention."

"This is different!" Ephialtes insisted. "We will set a new standard for entertainment! If mother is pleased, we can write our own ticket to fame and fortune!"

"If you say so," Otis sighed. "Though I still think those ballerina costumes from  _Swan Lake_  would look lovely-"

"No ballet!"

"Sorry."

"Come, let's examine the tigers. I want to be sure they're hungry!" The giants lumbered off into the gloom, and I looked to the jar. Nico's in there. I walked forward and walked through the surface of the jar. The air in the jar smelled of stale breath and tarnished metal. The only light came from the dim purple glow of a dark sword, its Stygian iron blade set against one side of the container. Huddled next to it was a dejected-looking boy in tattered jeans, a black shirt, and an old aviator jacket. On his hand, a silver skull ring glittered. The container was completely sealed, and the air was poisonous. Nico's eyes were closed, his breathing shallow. He appeared to be meditating, his face pale and thinner than I remembered. Zytaveon was next to him, though he looked more transparent, like a ghost. He grabbed Nico's Stygian iron sword and scratched a mark on the inner wall of the jar, making a third hash mark.

"Ve?" I asked. He turned to me, surprised, but his eyes darted around like he didn't see me. Nico suddenly grunted, and Veon looked to his brother.

"Nico? We're coming for you. Just hold on." He reached for a small collection of glistening objects no bigger than baby teeth between Nico's feet. Seeds, pomegranate seeds like Emily had told me. He grabbed one and popped it into Nico's mouth. The younger boy quickly chewed and ate it before spitting it out. Three that made three of the pomegranate seeds eaten, while five more were still encased in dark red pulp. Nico went into his trance once more and Ve sighed. Suddenly he was pulled backwards by some invisible force. It surprised him, but he didn't even have time to shout before he disappeared.

"Veon!" But the scene dissolved for me and I was suddenly underwater. I opened my eyes and realized I was in my room on the Argo II, inside the water of my waterbed (Coolest thing ever, by the way). I quickly swam to the edge and jumped out completely dry, the water barely shifting, and transformed myself to water. I sank through the floor and then crawled under until I arrived in Veon's room. I reformed and found that, of course, his room was practically all black. I found him thrashing around on his bed, the covers thrown away. He was screaming in some other language that I couldn't understand.

"Ve? Ve! Veon wake up!" I ran over and tried to shake him, but he smacked me away harshly, screaming in that other language. It wasn't Ancient Greek, and it wasn't Latin, so I had no idea what it was, only that he was screaming a million syllables at the top of his lungs at like 500 beats per minute. He suddenly disappeared into the shadows and then reappeared on the other side of the room, collapsing against the wall before he was pulled backwards and fell into the shadow of his dresser. He reappeared to my left in the shadow of his nightstand and then fell back onto his bed, gripping the sheets so tightly I was worried he was going to rip them. I ran out to the hall and hurried to Zy's room, knocking on the door frantically. She opened the door after a few moments, looking annoyed, but I grabbed her hand and dragged her to Veon's room.

"I don't know what's happening," I said. "Some kind of nightmare. Do something!" She walked inside and we found Veon when he came out of the shadow of a lamp and fell off the nightstand in a face-plant. Zy grabbed him and slipped something out of her pocket. I realized it was a syringe when she stabbed it into his arm and pushed down the plunger. Veon stopped screaming with a tired moan and then went limp.

"That should sedate him for the rest of the night. It's made for demigods." She lugged his large frame back onto his bed and threw the covers over him. "If that's all. Good night."

"You have a syringe with sedative in your pajama pants?" I asked.

"Yes, and I have a gun under my pillow and a dagger on my nightstand. Seriously people, how many times have you woken up with a monster in your bedroom?"

"Well what was the language he was speaking? What was he dreaming about?"

"I don't know. Something bad. The language is some kind of ancient language known only by the Primordial gods. Now I'm dead tired so good night. See you in the morning." She walked out and back to her room.

"Some girlfriend you are," I muttered. Shouldn't she be more concerned about him? Like, trying to stay over in his bedroom to look after him or something? Well, now I was up and wasn't gonna get to sleep any time soon. I headed to the mess hall and got some chocolate. Maybe raising my blood sugar would make me more tired. Plus I have an excuse to eat chocolate. I wolfed down a large Hershey bar (don't tell me you've never done that before in your life or dream of doing so) and then headed back to my room. I managed to fall asleep in the calming water where the any sound was muffled, when I woke once again to someone poking my waterbed.

I opened my eyes to see Frank, who was looking at it in awe. He was dressed in running shoes, dark cargo pants, and a Vancouver Winter Olympics T-shirt with his Roman centurion badge pinned to the neck (which seemed either sad or hopeful, now that we were renegades and all). He looked a bit panicked about something.

"What's up?" I asked, sticking my head out of the wall of water.

"Have you seen Percy?" He asked frantically.

"No. Why? Is he missing?"

"We can't find him or Annabeth anywhere. They're not in their rooms, and no one can find them. We're worried that they've been kidnapped." I quickly hopped out and to the floor.

"Have you checked everywhere?"

"Everyone's looking. Mess hall, deck, infirmary-"

"Stables?"

"Uh…no, I don't think so."

"It's one of Annabeth's favorite places. Come on." We walked down past the engine room, the supply rooms and armory, to the stern of the ship. I opened the set of double doors that lead into a large stable. The room smelled of fresh hay and wool blankets. Lining the left wall were three empty horse stalls like the ones they used for pegasi back at camp and the right wall had two empty cages big enough for large zoo animals. In the center of the floor was a twenty-foot-square see-through panel. They were bay doors like a bomber Leo had installed to allow pegasi to come and go easily, though he made them before he realized pegasi prefer to roam free, so the stables are usually empty. On the glass doors were Annabeth and Percy, cuddling together on a blanket from one of the stables.

"Oh…you are in  _so_  much trouble," Frank muttered.

"What…?" Percy asked, rubbing his eyes. "Oh, we just fell asleep." Frank swallowed and averted his eyes, as if the sight of them together might burn him.

"Everyone thinks you've been kidnapped. We've been scouring the ship. When Coach Hedge finds out…oh gods, you've been here  _all night?_ "

"Frank!" Annabeth protested, her ears as red as strawberries. "We just came down here to talk. We fell asleep. Accidentally. That's  _it_."

"Kissed a couple of times," Percy said.

"Not helping!" Annabeth said, glaring at him.

"We'd better…" Frank stuttered, pointing to the stable doors. "Uh, we're supposed to meet for breakfast. Would you explain what you did - I mean didn't do? I mean…I really don't want that faun - I mean satyr - to kill me." Frank ran.

"Uh, yeah," I said. "I just got up. See you in the mess hall, little bro."

When everyone finally gathered in the dining hall, it wasn't quite as bad as Frank had feared. Jason and Piper were mostly relieved, Leo couldn't stop grinning and muttering, "Classis. Classic." Veon was eating a bowl of Lucky Charms as though nothing was wrong, Emily was looking at Zy and him like " _I wonder if those two will ever learn about this whole relationship thing_ ," and Zy was humming a song to herself and staring at the view of Camp Half-Blood's sunrise uninterested. Only Hazel seemed scandalized, maybe because she was from the 1940s. She kept fanning her face and wouldn't meet Percy's eyes. I sat at the table and began playing with a bowl of water while Coach Hedge was going ballistic, though it was hard to take him seriously when he was barely five feet tall.

"Never in my life!" Coach bellowed, waving his bat and knocking over a plate of apples. "Against the rules! Irresponsible!"

"Coach," Annabeth said. "It was an accident. We were talking and we fell asleep."

"Besides," Percy said. "You're starting to sound like Terminus." Hedge narrowed his eyes.

"Is that an insult, Jackson? Cause I'll…I'll terminus you, buddy!" Percy barely suppressed a laugh.

"It won't happen again, Coach. I promise. Now, don't we have other things to discuss?" Hedge fumed.

"Fine! But I'm watching you, Jackson. And you, Annabeth Chase, I thought you had more sense-" Jason cleared his throat.

"So grab some food, everybody. Let's get started."

The meeting was like a war council with donuts. Then again, back at Camp Half-Blood, they used to have their most serious discussions around the Ping-Pong table in the rec room with crackers and Cheez Whiz, so we felt right at home. Percy explained that he'd had a dream similar to mine - the twin giants planning a reception for them in an underground parking lot with rocket launchers, and Nico di Angelo trapped in a bronze jar, slowly dying from asphyxiation with pomegranate seeds at his feet.

"They're from our step-mother's garden," Veon said.

"Your step…oh," Percy said. "You mean Persephone." He nodded.

"The seeds are a last-resort food. Only children of Hades can eat them. Nico and I always keep some in case we get stuck somewhere. I gave Nico mine, and since they're not with me, I can only hope that he got them. I had four on me, and I'm pretty sure Nico had four on him too. Each seed can last him a day at most, barely. It puts him in a sort of death trance, keeping him from consuming all his air. Like hibernation, or a coma. That gives him a total of eight days at most, and he's been captured for three already?"

"Five seeds left," Percy agreed. "We have until July first. The giants planned it that way, counting on Veon to give his seeds as well. Assuming Nico is hidden somewhere in Rome-"

"That's not a lot of time," I concluded.

"The giants are trying to lure us," Annabeth said. "They're assuming we'll try to rescue him."

"Well, they're right!" Hazel declared, looking around the table and her confidence apparently crumbling. "Won't we?"

"Yes!" Coach Hedge yelled with a mouthful of napkins. "It'll involve fighting, right?"

"Of course we're going to try and rescue him," Veon said. "Trap be damned, I'm not gonna just sit by and let my brother die! I promised him we were coming…!" Emily put her hand on his shoulder.

"We'll find him, Ve," She promised.

"At least we know for sure what the lines of the prophecy mean now," Piper said. "'Twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death.' Your brother's last name, di Angelo, is Italian for angel."

"Oh gods," Hazel muttered. "Nico…"

"We'll rescue him," Percy promised. "We  _have_  to. The prophecy says he holds the key to endless death."

"That's right," Emily said encouragingly. "Your brother went searching for the Doors of Death in the Underworld, right? He must've found them."

"He can tell us where the doors are," I said. "And how to close them."

"But Nico and I share a soul bond," Ve said. "Nico and I went looking for the doors together in one of my dreams, resulting in his capture. The only reason I'm not in that jar too was because I was able to return to my body. Dammit, I could've stopped this…"

"There's nothing you could've done," Zy said. "Both you and Nico were overwhelmed by Gaea's forces, right? No doubt that the doors are flooded with monsters wanting to escape and guarding them. Two boys, sons of Hades or not, couldn't have closed the Doors of Death on their own against such a force."

"But if I concentrate hard enough I might be able to get the location and how to close them from here. That means it's entirely possible that the giants could actually…and we'd still be able to move on, so what the prophecy said…"

"Zytaveon, I made a promise that I would do everything in my power to save Nico di Angelo and I will not break that oath. The prophecy says the giants "snuff out the angel's breath," and Nico can't breathe, right? Thanks to his pomegranate seeds, his breath has technically already been "snuffed out," but that doesn't mean he's dead. It just means he can't breathe. We will find him, and we will save him."

"Uh, one thing?" Leo said, shifting nervously in his chair. "The giants are expecting us to do this, right? So we're walking into a trap?" Hazel looked at Leo like he'd made a rude gesture.

"We have no choice!"

"We're going!" Veon agreed.

"Easy," Emily said.

"Don't get me wrong," Leo said carefully. "It's just that your brother, Nico…he knew about both camps, right?"

"Well, yes," Hazel said.

"He's been going back and forth, and he didn't tell either side." Jason sat forward.

"You're wondering if we can trust the guy. So am I." Hazel and Veon both shot to their feet.

"Of  _course_  we can trust him!" Veon said.

"I don't believe this!" Hazel agreed. "He's my  _brother_! He brought me back from the Underworld, and you don't want to help him?!"

"Nobody's saying that," Frank insisted before glaring at Leo. "Nobody had  _better_  be saying that." Leo blinked.

"Look, guys. All I mean is-"

"Leo is raising a fair point," Jason said. "I remember Nico from Camp Jupiter. Now I find out he also visited Camp Half-Blood. That does strike me as…well, a little shady. Do we really know where his loyalties lie? And if Veon can get the information needed out of him…" Hazel's arms shook. A silver plate zoomed toward her and hit the wall to the left, splattering scrambled eggs.

"You…" She choked out. "The  _great_  Jason Grace…the praetor I looked up to. You were supposed to be so fair, such a good leader. And now you…" Hazel stomped her foot and stormed out of the mess hall.

"Hazel!" Leo called after her. "Ah, jeez. I should-"

"You've done enough," Frank growled.

"Nico didn't want the Romans and the Greeks to start a war if they knew about each other," Veon said. " _Our father_  was the one who showed him Camp Jupiter and told him to go there and keep things a secret." He scoffed. "Wait, I get it. All children of Hades are " _shady_." But that doesn't mean we shouldn't help someone who's in trouble. Besides…" He gripped the table, his jaw clenched in barely-contained fury. "No matter who he is or what he's done… _no one_  deserves to die slowly suffocating in a freaking bronze jar!" He stormed off as well.

"Veon!" Zy called. "Don't go doing something stupid!"

"Like what?!" He shouted in challenge, continuing down the hall.

"Like-!" She sighed. "Like that. Great. He's gone. I should-"

"Let them cool down," Emily advised.

"You guys, that  _was_  pretty cold," Piper said. Jason looked shocked.

"Cold? I'm just being cautious!"

"Their brother is dying," I reasoned.

"I'll go talk to her," Frank suggested.

"And I should get Veon," Zy agreed.

"No," Emily insisted. "Let both of them cool down. Trust me on this one. Piper and I will check on them in a few minutes."

"But…" Frank huffed like an irritated bear. "Fine. I'll wait." Zy sighed and slumped in her seat, crossing her arms. From up above came a whirring sound like a large drill.

"That's Festus," Leo said. "I've got him on autopilot, but we must be nearing Atlanta. I'll have to get up there…uh, assuming we know where to land." Everyone turned to me and Percy.

"You're Captain Salt Water," Jason said to Percy. "Any ideas from the experts?" Was that resentment in his voice? Was Jason secretly miffed about the duel in Kansas? I guess they both must've harbored a little grudge. You can't put two demigod boys in a fight and not have them wonder who was stronger.

"I'm not sure," Percy admitted.

"We need to get a look at the place first," I said. "Land us somewhere central, high up so we can get a good view of the city. Maybe a park with some woods? We don't want to land a warship in the middle of downtown. I doubt even the Mist could cover up something that huge." Leo nodded.

"On it." He raced for the stairs. Frank settled back in his chair uneasily. I felt bad for the guy. On the trip to Alaska, I'd seen him and Hazel grow close, and I knew how protective Frank felt toward her. He was giving Leo a baleful look, and clearly those three had some issues. We honestly needed to just sort this out. Percy and I looked to each other and seemed to be thinking the same thing. Maybe Frank could use some time off the ship.

"When we land, we'll scout around in Atlanta," Percy said. "Frank, we could use your help."

"You mean turn into a dragon again? Honestly, Percy, I don't want to spend the whole quest being everyone's flying taxi."

"No," I said. "We want you because you've got the blood of Poseidon. Maybe you could help us figure out where to find salt water. Besides, you're good in a fight. And  _Veon_  is our shadow travelling taxi." That seemed to make Frank feel a little better.

"Sure. I guess."

"Great," Percy said. "We should take one more. Annabeth-"

"Oh no!" Coach Hedge barked. "Young lady, you are  _grounded_." Annabeth stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language.

"Excuse me?"

"You and Jackson are not going  _anywhere_  together!" He glared at Percy, daring him to mouth off. " _I'll_  go with Frank, Audrey and Mr. Sneaky Jackson. The rest of you guard the ship and make sure Annabeth doesn't break any more rules!" Wow, he  _was_  starting to sound like Terminus. Percy sighed.

"This is going to be  _so_  much fun," He said with heavy sarcasm.


	13. Meeting Kaze Grigora

First Person: Zytaveon

How could they even  _consider_  not helping Nico? It made my blood boil. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew they had their reasons, I knew they weren't saying we shouldn't help Nico, just that we should be cautious of the giants' trap, but when it came to Nico, there wasn't anything to discuss. My brother had gone through more things than any kid should, even a demigod. Sure, Nico's struggled in fitting in with the good guys, but that doesn't make him a bad guy. He's an outcast, and he's felt all alone ever since Bianca died. He went through so much trying to bring her back, and when he finally accepts that she's dead, she chooses rebirth so that he can't even see her in the Underworld.

Demigods are always outcasts, we don't fit in with mortals, but we children of Hades (and Pluto) are outcasts of outcasts. We're different, we don't fit in even with demigods, and Nico suffered that curse more than any of us. We don't fear the shadows, we  _use_  them, and maybe that doesn't make us any better than monsters, we accept that, but that's no reason to let Nico just die. He's not going and attacking the camps, is he? He's not trading information on either camp's weakness, is he? If they're gonna question his loyalties, then fine. I'll go find him myself.

"Veon! Don't go doing something stupid!"

"Like what?!" I shouted, before disappearing into the shadows.  _Take me to my brother_. I knew the jar he was in, I knew it was somewhere in Rome. That  _had_  to be enough, right? Nico told me about times he'd accidentally shadow travelled to China while he was learning the power (personally, I just ran into a lot of walls), so that meant I had to be able to go across the planet with shadow travel, right? Then again, he  _had_ said that he'd learned back when he was in the Labyrinth, where a few steps could get you half way across the U.S.

Naturally, I didn't consider this until  _after_  I'd let the shadows take me, so I ended up getting spit out at a random location: an alleyway between some buildings. Gathering my bearings, I looked out to find I was in some town. Unsure of my actual location, I walked around aimlessly. As I did, I began to realize that I was most likely not going to make it to Nico with shadow travel alone. The others weren't saying we weren't going for Nico, they'd have to be heartless if that was the case. They were just addressing any concerns. Nico was no threat to them, even if he could come off a little scary. They'd understand. And if they didn't, I would refuse to tell them anything about what Nico and I found on the Doors of Death. Not until we got Nico back.

I was able to calm down a bit, but I was hungry from the trip and decided to stop at the nearest restaurant for a second breakfast. I got some pizza and sat at a window booth, staring out at the half-busy street outside. I wondered what I was supposed to do when I got back to the ship. I needed to actually find out where I'd accidentally gone, for one. According to a sign, I was in Clarksville, but I could barely remember where Broomfield was in Colorado, and I'd lived there all my life. How was I supposed to know where Clarksville was in the world? Oh well. Pizza.

I finished a couple slices before I saw something out of the corner of my eye. If not for my life of being attacked by anything and everything, no matter how harmless, I might not have noticed it or even cared. I would have dismissed it as a trick of the light, or maybe figured I was imagining things. Yet as I stared out the window, I definitely saw something blur across the street. On the sidewalk, something streaked in front of a candy store and disappeared into the alley between it and the neighboring building. I blinked and tried to think what it could be when it moved past the next building and into the next alley. It looked like it came straight out of  _The Flash_ , with it being a streak the size of a human moving at blurring speeds.

I paid for my brunch and then quickly hurried across the street to the alley. Maybe it was Zy coming after me. She could move pretty quickly in a similar manner, but that brought up the question of why she was hiding between buildings. I had clearly noticed whatever this was, and there was no way Zy would be so secretive yet obvious. She'd have come and confronted me directly. Why lead me to an alley? I drew my Stygian sword and summoned my shield, preparing for a trap as best I could. Why I still walked forward even though I knew it was a trap and there was nothing to gain? Call it curiosity. Plus, I needed somewhere to vent my anger. Gaea had taken my brother, and if I couldn't get him back right now, maybe I could let off some steam.

The alley wasn't interesting. It was pretty much empty besides some stray trash on the ground and a couple garbage bags. Still, I knew it couldn't be harmless. Whatever streak I'd seen had come in here but hadn't come back out, and I could see a dead end about thirty feet down. I walked in slowly, looking around at everything that I passed. By the time I made it to the end of the alley, I had found nothing. I knew I couldn't relax though. Now came the challenge of getting back out now that I was in. It would be easy to block off the path that I came from or jump me the moment I turned around.

Surely enough, the second I turned, I was met with a hard punch to the face by an attacker too fast to see. The force behind the attack was extremely powerful, most likely from the speed it was delivered, and I stumbled back, my head pounding. When I tried to look again, I was punched in the chest and sent back into the wall behind me. My attacker was moving as fast as they could around the alley to prevent me from seeing what they were, but it was making sure I couldn't get past it, and that it had the speed ready to knock me again should I get up.

Concentrating (which was hard with a pounding headache), I melted into the shadows and came out at the edge of the alley. I didn't exactly want to draw attention to myself, but I didn't have time to ponder some excuse before I was grabbed and thrown back hard into the ground between the two buildings. I should've expected that one, but my shadow travelling wasn't working at full capacity with my head so jacked up. I could only reach places I could currently see with my own eyes, and even that took more concentration than usual. I couldn't shadow travel much farther than this alley, and my attacker would make sure I couldn't escape fast enough, or even get help before he dragged me back in.

Slipping an emergency square of ambrosia into my mouth, I tried to come up with a plan. I didn't have any more ambrosia on me since this wasn't a planned excursion, so I had to be quick. I needed a way to slow this thing down or restrain it, but how do you catch something moving faster than you can blink? I went through a list of things I could do. Shadow travel was out; I wouldn't be able to turn it to dust without touching it, and it would make sure that any contact was short or I was getting attacked; there were no zombies to summon here; no gems, and maybe I could control a manhole cover that was in the alley, but there's no way I'd be able to hit this thing if it was moving so fast. Looks like I was gonna have to use my tar power. Maybe I could capture the thing in a sticky vat of tar.

I put my hand to the ground and then willed the ground in the center of the alley to start turning to tar. It was an odd sensation, but I knew that it was possible. I could summon the Kako anywhere I wanted, and turn any surface to tar if I tried hard enough. Any tar could be used as a kind of portal for both me and the Kako that worked for me. Maybe this was a gift from Gaea, the one who'd ordered my brother to be imprisoned, but I would make sure I used it for good. Surely enough, the ground began to darken and then, when the thing ran over it, I had the Kako inside grab it and drag it down. The Kako wasn't fast, but it was sticky, and it caught the speeding blur with ease, wrapping the tar around it so that it couldn't escape and pulling it in.

The blur was now revealed to be a boy, in his early teens, maybe thirteen or fourteen. He had a mop of black hair that barely covered his eyes, wearing a red hoodie, jeans, running shoes, and a white T-shirt. He was shouting in protest and panic as my Kako dragged his waist deep into the vat of tar and continued pulling him down. He tried to grip the ground, but it was slick and smooth and the now that the Kako had got a grip on him, it was impossible for him to escape. He was pulled down until the tar was at his chest before I told the Kako to stop and merely hold him there so I could question him.

" _Let me go! I won't let you hurt Onesan, evil bastard!_ " He shouted in another language. I could now see his face. He looked mostly Caucasian, except he had brown almond shaped eyes of an Asian. I think he was speaking Japanese. He said something about "Onesan." For some reason that didn't translate, so he must've been using it as a title or name. Onesan meant elder sister, I believe.

" _Who is your sister?_ " I asked.

" _Onesan won't be manipulated! You evil monsters won't_ ever _hurt her again! Let her go! You hear me?! Let her go!_ " He was struggling around in the tar now, less to escape and more to vent his anger and emphasize his point. Whoever his sister was, she must've been manipulated or kidnapped in some way by someone.

" _Who?_ "

" _You know who!_ "

" _Look, believe me or not, but I don't know who you're talking about, kid. I don't know who you are, and I don't know who your older sister is._ "

" _Rei Grigora-Chikara!_ " (Pronounced "Ray" in case anyone needed to know)

" _Grigora-Chikara? What's your name, kid?_ "

" _Kaze! Kaze Grigora-Chikara! And I'm_ not _a kid! Now where is Onesan, bastard?! I know you've captured her!_ "

I remembered clearly what Zy had told me. " _What's his name?_ _Kaze. Kaze Grigora. Or Chikara, since he considered himself my brother. Or Grigora-Chikara, since we're all about the hyphen._ " This couldn't be her brother, could it? I mean, Zy was pretty clear that she knew he had died. Maybe he escaped when Death was imprisoned. I had no idea who this Rei was, yet there was no way Zy could have some kind of sister, right? She could very well be hiding things from me, but when it came to her family, she mentioned her brother a lot, and never any other person who'd gotten as close as he had. Clearly this kid, Kaze, cared deeply for his older sister and was willing to tear down the skies if it would save her, and if he really was Zy's little brother, then it matched up. Those two had some unbreakable bond, one that most people would be jealous of.

I'd gotten Zy to open up about her little brother, and I knew she missed him deeply after parting with Kaze's tragic death. I don't know if dad was just being lazy, turning a blind eye, or if my theory about being given another life means you're out of Hades' reach until you die again was right, but people like Gwen and Kaze were staying alive even though they shouldn't have when Death was released. I did know that if this really was the real Kaze Grigora, he'd want to see his sister, and his sister would want to see him. I sat crossed legged at the edge of the vat.

" _Zy is on the Argo II. I'll take you to her if you promise not to cause more trouble._ " He shook his head firmly, as though I was asking him to sell his soul to the devil.

" _No. Who is Zy?_ "

" _Zy is your sister's new name. She took it as a cover when she came to the United States. If I release you and take you to see her, can you at least promise not to attack me? I want you to see her too._ " He looked at me suspiciously.

" _Why?_ "

" _Because I know it'd make her happy._ " He studied me, probably guessing if I was lying.

" _No traps?_ "

" _Traps?_ "

" _Mother told me Onesan was going being tricked. She was forced into something long ago. I won't let that happen to Onesan again._ "

" _Look, clearly you care for your sister a lot. I promise you, she's fine. She can take care of herself. I care for her too, and I want her to be happy. She talks about her little brother, how much she misses you and all the things you used to do together. She says you'd call her "lightning fingers" and she would always respond "don't call me that or I'll show you-_ "

" _-what lightning fingers can really do…_ " At this point, he'd stopped fighting the tar and was resting his arms on it like it was just a desk. He stared down at the tar in thought, lacing his fingers and spinning his thumbs frantically, a sign of an ADHD demigod. He'd probably be tapping his foot, but they were currently trapped about four and a half feet in tar. " _She would always be humming to herself and she'd spin-_ "

" _-her mother's ring on her right middle finger._ " He nodded.

" _How do you know her?_ "

" _We were friends in high school. We met about half way through the first year._ "

" _School? Onesan doesn't go to school. Onesan said school would kill us worse than any orphanage._ "

" _She says the goddess was the main reason she went._ " He suddenly tensed and looked up to me, a panic surging through him.

" _Goddess?! What goddess?_ "

" _I don't know her real name. She says to just call her Zyanya. It's just a fake name, though._ "

" _Do you work for that goddess?_ "

" _What? No. I'm her friend, sure. She didn't like me at first, but she's warmed up to me, and now allows me to date her host._ " He blinked.

" _You're…_ with _Onesan?_ " I tensed.

" _Uh…maybe?_ " He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow with a scowl.

" _Really?_ " He asked, deadpan, clearly not asking for clarification. I tried to push down my nervousness. I've been doing this for years in the drama department and choir, going in front of hundreds of people at a time, including very strict judges that hated on your every action. This was a thirteen-year-old kid who was currently trapped in a vat of tar. I could do this.

" _Yes…_ "

" ** _Brilliant. Such a well thought out response. You've been doing improvisation for like a decade and that's the best you got?_** "

" ** _Shut up, voice in my head._** "

" _Yep,_ " Kaze said nodding. " _Is Onesan…how is she?_ "

" _She's doing fine, but she'd be better if you were with her. I can take you to her if you promise not to sucker-punch me again._ " He put his hand to his chin and rested his elbow on his other hand, tilting his head slightly in thought just like Zy always did.

" _Hm…deal._ "

" _Promise on the River Styx?_ " For some reason, I got a bad vibe from this kid. I felt like he wasn't evil or anything, just that he'd be a real pain in the ass, like…well, like that annoying little brother that causes trouble for you at every turn.

" _Promise…_ " He muttered unhappily. I was still reluctant, but seeing as he'd promised on the Styx, I let the tar release him, pushing him up and out before the ground beneath him solidified into concrete under his feet once more. He tapped the ground cautiously, looking at it in awe.

" _So do you know where we are?_ " He shook his head.

" _I can't read American._ "

" _Well then let's see if we can find out. On the way, tell me more about you. Your sister's cautious in her wording about you, and she doesn't bring the topic up a lot because of the circumstances surrounding your death._ " He nodded and we walked out of the alley and down the street.

" _We met in an orphanage for "special kids." Really, most of the kids there were just demigods or some pretty talented mortals. There were locks on windows, a really mean woman in charge, cameras monitoring our every move. We were basically on lockdown. Onesan was the only one who nearly escaped if it wasn't for me intervening. She hacked the electronic lock on one of the windows within a day when other new kids took around a week to figure out how to escape. I wanted her to take me with her. She knew how to survive, and I couldn't make it on my own. I was tired of that place, I'm sure everyone there was. But she said she couldn't because I'd just burden her. So I set off the window alarm and got her in trouble. She played it off like she didn't know the windows weren't allowed to be opened, but after that, I kept her from ever escaping again, not until she promised she'd take me with her._ "

I bought some ice cream for each of us at an ice cream shop. Kaze took it happily, wolfing it down within a few seconds, blurring into speed for a moment and then throwing the bowl and spoon away. I smiled when he asked for more, saying that his speed resulted in an appetite. I gave him mine and said we could stop for lunch, and I could pay for anything he wanted. We went to a diner, and I ordered some food along with Kaze so that he could have mine too. Of course, I had to order all of his food too since he couldn't read the menu and he couldn't speak proper English.

" _So it sounds like you two didn't get along at first,_ " I said while we waited for our food. Kaze swung his feet and tapped the table, his head moving like he was humming a song to himself. Yeah, he was major ADHD.

" _Yeah. Eventually, she gave up escaping, being stubborn and not giving in to my demand. So we were at a standstill. You see, I was the one who the mean woman liked most since I could always get away with trouble and made her think I was obedient, even though I definitely wasn't. Since I got Onesan in trouble so often, I was put as her…chaperone. I was always the one ordered to look after her and stay with her at all times. We shared a bunk bed, and so we got really close whether we liked it or not. One night, she caught me writing stuff in my journal in the middle of the night._ " He pulled out a journal from his jacket, though how it fit in there without my noticing it was beyond me. He opened it and flipped through the pages to show me a bunch of Japanese symbols, but unlike what I'd seen on TV or online and such, these symbols were all over the place and not in lines or organized in any way on the page.

" _She showed me that she wrote in a journal like that too,_ " He continued. " _She had a lot of different symbols in hers, the majority of which I didn't understand. Her Japanese was a bit rusty, and so I offered to help teach her. Turns out, she was pretty good at poetry and writing, and I liked her work. She said she liked mine too, and for that one night, it was like we'd never been enemies. After that, we only grew closer. I was obligated to stay with her at all times, so when we'd be allowed outside in the courtyard to play, we'd have competitions to see who had more stamina, who could do the most awesome maneuvers, and sometimes just wrote things together. In the process of trading stories, she told me she was a child of a goddess and a half-blood. I told her I was a child of Hermes, and she explained that she was my cousin. One day, I called her "sister" and…well, she called me "brother." After that, it stuck._ "

" _She says she met you when she was about nine and you were three years younger than her. You must've been a seriously scary six-year-old._ " He smiled and nodded proudly. When our food came he began wolfing it down. I hoped the Mist was covering him speeding to a blur as he ate, because the food was disappearing rapidly. If his speed physics worked like the Flash, then he must've had a really fast metabolism. He ate enough for three before saying he was stuffed and that we should go see Zy. He looked ready to bounce off the walls and clearly he was on a sugar-high. Or just a food-high in general. Once I paid, I found we were in Tennessee, a good deal north of Atlanta. That was at least a five-hour drive, and that was if we had a car. I was filled up with food, but Kaze had beat me good in that alley, so shadow travelling was still a bit shaky. I couldn't promise that I'd make it back to the Argo II, and I couldn't guarantee I wouldn't pass out upon arrival.

" _So how do we get to Onesan?_ " Kaze asked, practically skipping down the street beside me.

" _Do you have any nectar or ambrosia on you? My head's still pounding from your beating earlier so I don't think I'll be able to instantly get us there._ " He put his arms in his thinking position again.

" _Umm…what are those things?_ "

" _You've never had the food of the gods?_ "

" _I don't know. Have I?_ " He dug through the inner pockets of his jacket. He pulled out a small vial with some green liquid in it, but I shook my head. He pulled out a brownie, but I shook my head again. " _I don't have any more food,_ " He said, popping the brownie into his mouth. " _I usually eat anything I come across._ "

" _Then all we can do is hope that you sister comes and finds us._ " He slumped dramatically.

" _But I don't like waiting~! I need to do something!_ "

" _Can you carry my weight?_ " He thought about it. I was at least a foot taller than this kid and twice his size in weight, so I expected him to say no.

" _Probably._ "

" _What?_ "

" _Hermes is the god of many things, including athletics. He once threw a house on this nymph when she refused to come to Zeus and Hera's wedding, making her into the first turtle. I'm physically stronger than I look._ "

" _Well, how fast could you run with my weight on you?_ "

" _Maybe not supersonic, but pretty fast._ "

" _Well, the crew is somewhere in Atlanta, about 300 miles south-east._ "

" _Three-minute trip tops._ "

" _Three? But…that means you'd be travelling 100 miles in a minute, around 6,000 miles per hour! That is_ way _faster than the speed of sound! Which is 767 miles per hour, by the way._ " He shrugged.

" _Okay, so maybe that's an exaggeration._ "

" _Maybe?_ "

" _Maybe! I can travel at the speed of light if I push it!_ "

" _Seriously?_ "

" _Yes!_ " I sighed.

" _Okay, but how fast can you get us to the Argo II?_ "

" _Hm…how much would that distance be on the metric system?_ "

" _300 miles? Uh…about 483 kilometers maybe?_ " He pulled a large phone out of his pocket. His hoodie couldn't have hidden something in his pocket so seamlessly. It looked like there was nothing in his pockets, and you wouldn't have guessed that his jacket even  _had_  pockets. This, along with his journal, couldn't possibly have fit in there. He muttered a few things as he played with the touch screen. After a moment, he sighed.

" _Okay, so maybe if I were alone I could make it in maybe ten minutes, but with your weight added on…thirty minutes if it was a straight shot and no landscape problems._ " I thought for a moment.

" _Wait, you can run over twice the speed of sound when you're on your own?_ " He shrugged.

" _Under circumstances._ "

" _What's your actual average speed?_ " He looked to the side.

" _Depending on how much I've had to eat and sleep at the time?_ "

" _Like when you were fighting me in the alley._ "

" _Hm…a little under the speed of sound. 300 meters per second? That's uh…_ " He tapped his phone again. " _671 miles per hour. Give or take. And that's when I'm being lazy. If you want to account for friction and wind resistance, be my guest, but I got the power from the gods so you'll have to ask them how things work. Anyway, I have the ability to run at the speed of light if I push it, but I've never actually done it before. If I did, I'd have probably circled the planet enough times to cut through the crust. The point is, I'm fast. If you want to time the trip, go ahead. Know that being in speed-mode makes time around us go by a lot faster - slower, I guess, depending on the perspective - so a minute to us could be an hour to the rest of the world depending on my speed._ "

" _You're pretty smart, kid._ "

" _Don't call me "kid." And yeah, I know a bit about my speed. Everything else…well, let's just say I have to use the internet a lot. Overall, just know that I could carry you to this "Ara-go-e-tu"_ _if I know where I'm going._ "

"Zytaveon?" I looked behind me to find Zy walking up. "Hey, there you are. I tracked you to your last shadow travel, but you weren't there. Took me ages to find you. Look, about your brother, you understand that Jason and Leo weren't saying we're going to abandon Nico, right? You had a real point. No one deserves to die like that, even if they were our sworn enemy."

" _I know. I cooled down a while ago. I know they're good people._ " She looked at me in confusion, raising an eyebrow.

" _What's up with the Japanese? It's not like we're making a drug deal or anything. You can speak about things in public._ " I realized my mistake and concentrated on English again.

"Sorry. I was just talking to - Oh! Right, look who I found!" I moved to the side so she could see Kaze standing behind me, who was staring at her in awe. Zy froze and stared at him with the same shock, and for a moment there was just silence. Kaze was the one to finally break it.

" _Onesan?_ "


	14. Remembering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is some self-harm in this chapter. Not major, but still worthy of a warning just because I like to be safe. Don't read if you don't like that thing or if you think/know it will trigger you.

First Person: Lucy

" _Onesan?_ "

" _Ototo?_ " I said on instinct. I'm not even sure when I opened my mouth, and I only processed that I'd actually said something at least five seconds after the fact.

" _Onesan!_ " Kaze charged in for a hug, and suddenly I snapped out of my daze. I backed away from his touch, and nearly lost my footing. I recovered by turning it into a back-handspring and landed ten feet away, drawing my sword.

"Zy, what are you-?"

"Go away!" I shouted, ignoring Veon. I charged Kaze and he quickly pulled out Veon's sword to block. Kaze was strong and he pushed me back, though he didn't retaliate. I'd dreamt of seeing my brother again, I'd seen too many illusions of him, too many tricks. Sometimes he had the same face of that nine-year-old I'd seen last, and sometimes he was a bit older, scaled to what he would have been had he never died. Sometimes he would blame me for what happened, sometimes he'd try and make me do things for him. I didn't believe him anymore for those reasons. I had to accept that he was gone, for better or worse. Now, only anger came from seeing his face. I wouldn't fall for more illusions. I'd kill anyone who dared to think my brother's image could be used against me.

"Zy, stop!" Veon shouted, but I ignored him. I charged at Kaze again, swinging my sword with all the rage I'd built up from my brother's memory. Kaze blocked again, a lot stronger than he looked and skilled with a sword. He twisted his sword in an attempt to disarm me, but I was gripping the sword tightly with white knuckles and kept my grip on it easily. I shoved him with my entire body weight behind it and he lost his footing, falling on his side with a shout of surprise. Veon's sword clattered beside him, and I stepped on his wrist to make sure he couldn't reach for it.

"Who do you work for?" I asked, my sword put to his neck.

" _Onesan! Please, it's me! Fight it! Don't let her control you again!_ "

" _What do you mean?!_ " I asked, switching to Japanese since he was insistent on playing my brother.

" _Don't let her force you into anything! No one controls you! I know you didn't want to kill me last time! You don't have to let her make you do this!_ "

" _Who?!_ "

" _That goddess!_ "

" _She's not in control of me._ "

" _Then prove it! Don't let her make you kill me again!_ "

" _I do this of my own free will. I won't let_ anyone _take my brother's form again! You all think that I'd bow down to you if he asked me to, but I know he's dead, and it's something I can_ never _forget!_ "

" _Onesan…?_ " He actually looked surprised. Humph. Good for him. Only four previous versions have ever tried to keep up the act once I revealed I knew he was a fake.

"Zy it  _is_  the real him!" Veon shouted. "He came back when Thanatos was captured!"

"Why would Hades allow him to stay?"

"He let Gwen stay. He let all those good people have their second chance at life."

"It'd be a perfect cover story. Too perfect. I've seen my brother at least twenty times in the last five years, Veon. You can't be fooled by the first one you see."

" _Onesan?_ " Kaze asked calmly, almost hesitantly. " _Do you still have it?_ "

" _Have what?_ " He turned his head so that his face was on the ground, and his black hair parted to reveal the back of his neck. On it were marks that I hadn't seen in a long time. In Japanese, burnt onto his skin, were the letters  _S.C.W.X - 0012 - GRGR KZ_ along with a barcode.

" _What does it stand for?_ " I asked, my voice barely coming out a whisper.

" _What?_ "

" _What does it stand for?!_ " I demanded.

" _Special Case. Ward X. Number 12. Kaze Grigora. Yours says_ S.C.W.X - 0013 - FNG R.  _Special Case. Ward X. Number 13. Rei Fang._ " I shifted my weight to crush his fingers further.

" _Never call me that again._ " I then lifted my foot and stepped back, sheathing my sword. Kaze sat up, rubbing his fingers before looking up to me.

" _Onesan?_ " I stared at him for a long moment. His eyes were the same brown color I remembered; he still had that scar on his forehead from when I first hit him with lightning; he had a callous on each of his middle fingers from being an ambidextrous writer. In all the previous versions of Kaze that I'd encountered, little details like this wouldn't be so perfect. I kneeled down and got a closer look at his face. He blinked innocently, wondering what I was doing. He looked slightly tan, and his body seemed to be physically fit, though he tried to hide it under his jacket and jeans. He had a slight case of acne, something that the fake Kaze's never had. I'd seen dozens of fakes, so many that this one shouldn't be any different. And yet he was.

But I didn't want him to be. As much as I missed my brother, I didn't want to ever see him again. I couldn't stand seeing his face every single day knowing what I'd done. I want to just leave him behind in my past. Because even now, when I look at his innocently confused face, I want to cry. My mind takes me back to that final day I saw him, the day I killed him. And that fills me with anger. I go through the same trail of thoughts I always do. I could've stopped, I could've said no. I could have saved him. But I went forward because of what was at risk. And in the end, it wasn't even worth it.

"Here." I pulled a bag of ambrosia out of my bag and tossed it to Veon before I stood and teleported back to the ship. I hurried below deck and into my room, locking the door and power-proofing the room so that no one could get in. I snapped the room to be sound-proof as well, before I slipped off my jacket and took the knife I keep on my nightstand into my left hand. When I pushed the knife onto my right upper arm, it stung with a numbing pain. But even though I hissed slightly at the wound, I moved the knife to make a cut about an inch long.

I could've stopped myself all those years ago. When my brother shouted for me,  _begged_  me to stop, I just told him to shut up and punched him. He was nine years old. Just  _nine years old!_  He didn't have any other family that me, he put all his trust in me, told me everything about himself, secrets he barely admitted to himself. All those years we had together, every smile we shared, every tear, all those nights I held him and told him it would be all right. The long days of surviving on our own with barely a meal per day, the cold nights of winter when we huddled together for warmth. All those times he made me miss my target when I was shooting my bow and laughed, all the times I yelled at him for stealing something of mine, and the times he cried afterwards because I'd gone too far. Everything that we'd done together, all the moments we shared, were thrown away that day.

I was sobbing now. I made another cut, and another, each one becoming deeper and adding to the pain that distracted me from that hole in my heart.

On my birthday, we'd gone out on a trip to steal a feast and had to split up. While we were going through a forest to meet up, a goddess came to me and begged for my help. When I accepted, I threw away my future, and my brother's. The next day, I turned on my brother as though nothing we'd ever had in the past meant anything. I shouted how I hated him. I shouted how he was just an annoying brat that had forced me into taking him in. I hit him. I  _beat_  him. I attacked him until he bled and was screaming for mercy. Then I gave him darkness. I let the trials take him, left him to face that pain that I'd left in his heart. After that, he screamed, consumed by some black mist. His eyes had turned pure black, yet I could tell he could still see me. And I could see the hate he held for me within them. He was just a little boy who'd lost everything, and then was betrayed by the only person he trusted.

" ** _Why…?_** " That final word came back to me a million times. The worst part was, I couldn't give an answer. I could've stopped. It wasn't even worth it. He didn't make it past the trials. And now I was going to do it again to my best friend. Why don't I stop this time, you may ask. If the goddess dies everyone will suffer the same fate. No one will be able to escape it, harmless creatures to deadly gods. Everyone and everything will be destroyed. Percy Jackson's fatal flaw is that he would sacrifice the world to save a friend. What would my fatal flaw be? I would sacrifice a friend to save the world. Is that evil? Does it make me a monster? It doesn't matter. I'm the one who has to make this decision, I'm the one who will accept the blame for what happens in the future. I would take this responsibility if it means that someone else doesn't have to. I didn't ask for it, but I don't wish for anything to have been different. Nothing but my brother. He didn't survive the trials. Now that I've found Veon, it means that he shouldn't have had to go through the trials in the first place.

I dropped the knife. It was unfair, but I had no right to complain. So I just cry. I feel this pain from the cutting and somehow it eases the pain from my mind. I know I'm losing a lot of blood. Something in me just wants to let myself die, let the world burn if it means that I can be free of this pain right now. But something else within me forces me to get up and grab my medical kit that I keep under the bed. I have to keep going, I have to keep living. I have to see this through to the end, and know that whether I succeed or fail, I tried.

I grabbed some cloth and wiped away the blood before spraying the larger cuts with some herbal spray I'd made. It closed the wounds enough that they stopped bleeding, but after that, I always let them heal on their own. I wrapped a bandage around my entire upper arm, only now realizing how many cuts I'd made. There were scars from previous cutting sessions that showed because they had been made at different angles. Usually I cut without even thinking about it, only knowing the pain that numbed my mind and stung in a way that somehow satisfied me. I stuck myself in the forearm with a needle (not for self-harm, just for medical reasons) and attached a bag of blood in it to replace the large amount that I'd lost. I was on the verge of passing out from blood loss, but my hands worked on their own without me even thinking so they didn't shake or anything.

I sat on my bed now, waiting for the blood to pump into my system again. I stared at the ceiling of my cabin, feeling as my tears dried and my breathing evened out once more. I'd need to drink some water, I knew. Finally I sensed that I had enough blood and unhooked myself from the blood bag. I healed the hole in my forearm and then replaced the bloody bandages that had taken a small amount of blood when the new blood was pumped in. I slipped on my jacket again before going to my bathroom and washing my face. Good as new.

Out of curiosity, I took a hand mirror and then moved my hair to the side. On the back of my neck there was nothing, but that was because I didn't want people to see what I was, where I'd been. I cloaked it like I had my Roman brand, and I exhaled before I let it show once more. Just as Kaze had said, there was the brand that I'd been given at the orphanage. It was more like a jail. Special cases, my arse. As far as they were concerned, we were animals. I guess Kaze and I escaping might have made things worse for the others that were there. I was number 13. Kaze had been there since he was two and was number 12. Not a lot of new kids come in, and only 13 had ever been there in the first place, at least four years ago anyway. When I can, perhaps I could go and free those kids. A lot of them were demigods. I could bring them to Camp Half-Blood. The few kids that weren't, I might take to some other organization here in the U.S. where they won't be treated like prisoners on lockdown.

A knock on my door brought me back to reality, and I let my hair fall into place and cover the tattoo before I went to unlock the door. Before I could though, I heard the lock click with my enhanced hearing. No one should've been able to unlock the door from the outside. It didn't have a keyhole to even pick. I grabbed my gun and aimed it at the side of the door that opened. The moment it did, something came zooming into the room faster than I expected and ran around me. It grabbed my gun on a rotation before continuing to circle me. I locked onto it with my telekinetics and then with effort, brought it to a stop.

" _Onesan! I'm sorry! I was just trying to see you! Please don't hurt me!_ " I kicked the door closed and then locked it again before dropping Kaze. He walked over to me and produced my gun from his hoodie's pocket.

" _Infinite jacket pockets?_ " I asked, raising an eyebrow.

" _Maybe…_ " I sighed. I reached inside his jacket pockets despite his protests and produced two rings made of Stygian iron with silver skulls carved into them.

" _Kaze-kun, these were important to Veon-san, that man you met before? They're the only thing he has from his parents._ "

" _Who is he? I mean, who's his parent?_ "

" _He's a son of Hades, and a powerful one at that._ "

" _Does he hurt you?_ "

" _What? No, of course not. He's a sweetheart._ "

" _Is anyone here bad to you?_ "

" _No, Kaze. I don't need your protection. I can handle myself. I promise, all these people are my friends._ "

" _But Rei-chan…_ "

" _Why are you asking? Who put that thought in your head?_ "

" _My step-mother._ "

" _You got adopted?_ " He nodded.

" _She says you were forced into what you did before, that I shouldn't blame you for it. And I don't. It was some kind of goddess, right? Mother said there were people working for her that would hurt you._ " I sighed, but smiled.

" _Ototo, I know you're worried, but I'll be fine._ "

" _But-!_ "

" _My friends will protect me, and now I have you, right?_ " He nodded and stood straight. Gods, he was nearly as tall as me.

" _Hai!_ " I smiled. Doing a test, I poked the scar on his forehead.

" _Remember how I threw that brick at your forehead? You were out like a light for days. I was scared that I'd killed you._ " He tilted his head to the right in confusion.

" _Huh? I got that when you zapped me with that lightning bolt when I was seven._ " I took his right hand and looked to his palm. Near the base of his thumb was a scar about an inch long.

" _And this?_ "

" _You and I made a blood bond. You said it would keep us connected forever._ " He took my right hand and opened it to reveal a matching scar on my palm in the same place. He placed his right hand in mine, lining up the scars, slipping his thumb in the space between mine and my index finger, and wrapping his fingers around my thumb. " _We each cut our hands and then did this so that the blood mixed. After that, you sealed them both up and made sure they'd leave a scar to signify what we'd done._ " I drew circles on the back of his hand with my index finger like I'd always done before.

" _Are you sure you're real?_ "

" _Um…I think so. Am I?_ "

" _Are you sure you forgive me?_ "

" _Of course!_ " He put his other hand on the one he was holding, sandwiching mine between both of his. " _You were threatened, and I saw that the entire time you hated it._ "

" _But I still did it. I could've stopped but I…_ "

" _I'm here. I'm okay. I'll help you now._ " Kaze acted like he didn't even remember the event. How could someone possibly be so forgiving? Then again, neither of us wanted to break the bond we have, and I didn't  _want_  him to be angry at me. If Kaze can forgive me so easily, did that mean I'd soon be able to forgive myself?

" _Fine. I'll introduce you to the others when they get back. Until then, tell me about yourself. How'd you gain that kind of speed?_ " I moved to sit down on my bed and he followed before shrugging.

" _I don't know. I just unlocked it. Maybe in the Underworld, maybe once I came back. I'm not sure._ "

" _How fast can you go?_ "

" _When I'm just running around, pretty fast, though I don't exactly measure it. I've been told that I could probably breach the speed of light if I push myself, but I'd need to be able to run around the entire world to get up to that speed, and it would probably kill me after a few moments of it._ "

" _Where did you come back? That forest where you died?_ " He nodded.

" _I walked to this light, and suddenly I was lying in the forest. That's where I was found by-_ "

"Has anyone seen my tool belt?!" Leo called from outside. I walked to the door and opened it to see Leo walking into the mess hall and searching around.

"Do you remember taking it off?" Annabeth asked. The others walked in, some helping with the search and some thinking about where Leo might have placed it.

"No! I practically  _sleep_  in that thing. I  _never_  take it off! I was working on the ship and I suddenly realized it was gone." There was suddenly a clanging behind us as things were dropped on the floor, and we turned to see Kaze holding Leo's tool belt upside down and shaking things out of the pockets. A bunch of screws, nuts and bolts, wires, tape, scissors and even that fortune cookie that Leo had gotten from Nemesis fell out and onto the floor. Luckily it didn't break open, but when Leo's three-pound hammer came out, the tool belt was burnt out and stopped producing things. Kaze looked up to us, giving an innocent look when he realized everyone was staring at him.

"Who is that?" Jason asked.

" _Kon'nichiwa…_ " Kaze said nervously, raising his hand.


	15. Porky, Evil Ancient God of the Sea

First Person: Audrey

(Earlier)

When Percy climbed out on the deck, he muttered, "Wow." We had landed near the summit of a forested hill. A complex of white buildings, like a museum or a university, nestled in a grove of pines to the left. Below us spread the city of Atlanta - a cluster of brown and silver downtown skyscrapers two miles away, rising from what looked like an endless flat sprawl of highways, railroad tracks, houses, and green swathes of forest.

"Ah, lovely spot," Hedge said, inhaling the morning air. "Good choice, Valdez." Leo shrugged.

"I just picked a tall hill. That's a presidential library or something over there. At least, that's what Festus says."

"I don't know about that!" Hedge barked. "But do you realize what happened on this hill? Frank Zhang, you should know!" Frank flinched.

"I should?"

"A son of Ares stood here!" Hedge cried indignantly.

"I'm Roman…so Mars, actually."

"Whatever! Famous spot in the American Civil War!"

"I'm Canadian actually."

"Whatever! General Sherman, Union leader. He stood on this hill watching the city of Atlanta burn. Cut a path of destruction all the way from here to the sea. Burning, looting, pillaging - now  _there_  was a demigod!" Frank inched away from the satyr.

"Uh, okay." I could imagine some of the kids at Camp Half-Blood ordering the levelling of a city - Clarisse La Rue, for instance, wouldn't hesitate - but I couldn't imagine Frank being so harsh. Then again, if the sweetheart Emily had a dark side, so too must he. Kelly Clarkson once said, "everybody's got a dark side."

"Anyway," I said. "Let's try not to burn down the city this time." The coach looked disappointed.

"All right. But where to?" Percy pointed toward downtown.

"When in doubt, start in the middle." We headed to the presidential library - which turned out to be the Carter Center - and asked the staff if they could call a taxi or give us directions to the nearest bus stop. One of the librarians, whose name was Esther, insisted on driving us personally. She was so nice about it, I thought she must be a monster in disguise, but Hedge pulled us aside and assured us that Esther smelled like a normal human.

"With a hint of potpourri," He said. "Cloves. Rose petals. Tasty!" We piled into Esther's big black Cadillac (I called riding shotgun) and drove toward downtown. Esther was so tiny, she could barely see over the steering wheel, but that didn't seem to bother her. She muscled her car through traffic while regaling us with stories about the crazy families of Atlanta - the old plantation owners, the founders of Coca-Cola, the sports stars, and the CNN news people. She sounded so knowledgeable that Percy decided to try his luck.

"Uh, so Esther," He said. "Here's a hard question for you. Salt water in Atlanta. What's the first thing that comes to mind?" The old lady chuckled.

"Oh, sugar, that's easy. Whale sharks!" Frank and Percy exchanged looks.

"Whale shark?" Frank asked nervously. "You have those in Atlanta?"

"At the aquarium, sugar. Very famous! Right downtown. Is that where you wanted to go?" Well, we  _were_ looking for an ancient Greek sea god. An aquarium seemed like the only lead we had.

"Yeah, that's where we're going," I said. Esther dropped us at the main entrance, where a line was already forming. She insisted on giving us her cell phone number for emergencies, money for a taxi ride back to the Carter Center, and a jar of homemade peach preserves, which for some reason she kept in a box in her trunk. Frank stuck the jar in his backpack and thanked Esther, who had already switched from calling his "sugar" to "son."

"Are all people in Atlanta that nice?" He asked as she drove away. Hedge grunted.

"Hope not. I can't fight them if they're nice. Let's go beat up some whale sharks. They sound dangerous!" I realized that we might have to pay admission, along with stand in a line behind a bunch of families and kids from summer camps. Looking at the elementary schoolers in their colorful T-shirts from various day camps, I missed Camp Half-Blood, having Zy and Emily sleep over at the Poseidon cabin, teaching sword-fighting lessons in the arena, planning pranks on the other counselors with Zy and then having Emily say that wasn't nice. These kids had no idea just how crazy a summer camp could be.

"Well, I guess we wait in line," Percy said. "Anybody have money?" Frank checked his pockets.

"Three denarii from Camp Jupiter. Five dollars Canadian." Hedge patted his gym shorts and pulled out what he found.

"Three quarters, two dimes, a rubber band and…score! A piece of celery." He started munching on the celery, eyeing the change and the rubber band like they might be next. Percy checked his own pockets, but all he had was Riptide. I dug around in my pockets.

"Uh, a few drachma for Iris messages, a few denarii from Camp Jupiter, a paper clip and some hairpins for when I need to pick a lock…" I pulled my backpack off and dug around in the pockets. "Score! Twenty bucks! Uh…is that enough to get even one of us in this place? Usually, Zy handles expenses wherever we go. Think we can sneak in or something? I mean I probably could if I were alone, but…" Suddenly a woman in a blue-and-green Georgia Aquarium shirt came up to us, smiling brightly.

"Ah, VIP visitors!" She had perky dimpled cheeks, thick-framed glasses, braces, and frizzy black hair pulled to the sides in pigtails, so that even though she was probably in her late twenties, she looked like a schoolgirl nerd - sort of cute, but sort of odd. Along with her Georgia Aquarium polo shirt, she wore dark slacks and black sneakers, and she bounced on the balls of her feet like she simply couldn't contain her energy. Her name tag read  **KATE**.

"You have your payment, I see," She said. "Excellent!"

"What?" Percy asked. Kate scooped up the three denarii out of Frank's hand and the nine coins in my hand that were a mix of denarii and drachma.

"Yes, that's fine. Right this way!" She spun and trotted off toward the main entrance. Percy looked to us.

"A trap?"

"Probably," Frank said.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"She's not mortal," Hedge said, sniffing the air. "Probably some sort of goat-eating, demigod-destroying fiend from Tartarus."

"No doubt," Percy agreed.

"Awesome." Hedge grinned. "Let's go." Kate got us past the ticket queue and into the aquarium with no problem.

"Right this way," Kate said, grinning at Percy. "It's a  _wonderful_  exhibit. You won't be disappointed. So rare we get VIPs."

"Uh, you mean demigods?" Frank asked. Kate winked at him impishly and put a finger to her mouth.

"So over here is the cold-water experience, with your penguins and beluga whales and whatnot. And over there…well, those are some fish, obviously." For an aquarium worker, she didn't seem to know much or care much about the smaller fish. We passed one huge tank full of tropical species, and when Frank pointed to a particular fish and asked what it was, Kate said, "Oh, those are the yellow ones." Genius. We passed the gift shop, and Frank slowed down to check out a clearance table with clothes and toys. I'll admit that it I needed to get a present for Veon and Zy for their birthdays considering the past few weeks have been a bit hectic.

"Take what you want," Kate told us. Frank blinked.

"Really?"

"Of course! You're VIP!" Frank hesitated before stuffing some T-shirts in his backpack.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Percy asked.

"She said I could," Frank whispered. "Besides, I need more clothes. I didn't pack for a long trip!" I walked in and grabbed a journal, making sure it was blank and lined. It was navy blue with golden celestial patterns, with a good 200 pages. Perfect. I grabbed the nearest black thing in the store for Veon - a stuffed orca - and then shoved the two presents into my bag. I saw a tie-dye blue and green shirt and thought "why not?" before taking that too. Frank had added a snow globe to his stash, and when I came back he picked up a braided cylinder about the size of a candy bar, squinting at it.

"What is-?"

"Chinese handcuffs," I said. Frank, who was Chinese Canadian, looked offended.

"How is this Chinese?"

"That's what Zy always says. That's just what they're called. It's like a gag gift."

"Come along boys and girls!" Kate called from across the hall.

"I'll show you later," I promised. Frank stuffed the handcuffs in his backpack, and we kept walking. We passed through an acrylic tunnel, with fish swimming over our heads. I always found these things both cool and scary. I mean, what if the glass breaks and water floods the tunnel? Of course I'd be fine, and that was unlikely to happen, but still. We emerged in a viewing room awash with blue light. On the other side of the glass wall was the biggest aquarium tank I'd ever seen. Cruising in circles were dozens of huge fish, including two spotted sharks, each twice my size. They were fat and slow, with open mouths and no teeth.

"Whale sharks," Coach Hedge growled. "Now we shall battle to the death!" Kate giggled.

"Silly satyr. Whale sharks are peaceful. They only eat plankton." I wondered how Kate knew Hedge was a satyr. Hedge was wearing pants and specially fitted shoes over his hooves, like satyrs usually did to blend in with mortals, and his baseball cap covered his horns. Hedge didn't seem fazed by Kate, though.

"Peaceful sharks?" The coach said with disgust. "What's the point of that?" Frank read the plaque next to the tank.

"The only whale sharks in captivity in the world," He mused. "That's kind of amazing."

"Yes, and these are small," Kate said. "You should see some of my other babies out in the wild."

"Your babies?" Judging from the wicked glint in Kate's eyes, I was pretty sure I didn't want to meet Kate's "babies."

"So Kate," I said, getting to the point. "We're looking for a guy…I mean a god, named Phorcys. Would you happen to know him?" Kate snorted.

" _Know_  him? He's my brother. That's where we're going, sillies. The  _real_  exhibits are right through here." She gestured at the far wall. The solid black surface rippled, and another tunnel appeared, leading through a luminous purple tank. Kate strolled inside. I really didn't want to follow her, but if Phorcys was really on the other side, and he if had information that would help us on the quest… I sighed and made myself walk through the tunnel before the rational side of my brain could stop me. As soon as we entered, Coach Hedge whistled.

"Now  _that's_  interesting." Gliding above us were multicolored jellyfish the size of trash cans, each with hundreds of tentacles that looked like silky barbed wire. One jellyfish had a paralyzed ten-foot-long swordfish tangled in its grasp. The jellyfish slowly wrapped its tendrils tighter and tighter around its prey. Kate beamed at Coach Hedge.

"You see? Forget the whale sharks! And there much more." Kate led us into an even larger chamber, lined with more aquariums. On one wall, a glowing red sign proclaimed:  **DEATH IN THE DEEP SEAS!**   _Sponsored by Monster Donut_.

"Monster Donut?" Percy asked after a moment.

"Oh yes," Kate said. "One of our corporate sponsors." Percy gulped, and I think I remembered Annabeth mentioning a story with Monster Donut that involved acid-spitting serpent heads, much screaming, and a cannon. In one aquarium, a dozen hippocampi - horses with the tails of fish - drifted aimlessly. I had seen numerous hippocampi in the wild, and had even ridden a few while Zy was taking me out for training, but I'd never seen any in an aquarium. I tried to speak with them, but they just floated around, occasionally bonking against the glass. Their minds seemed addled.

"This isn't right," Percy muttered.

"No kidding," I agreed. I turned and saw something worse. At the bottom of a smaller tank, two Nereids - female sea spirits - sat cross-legged, facing each other and playing a game of Go Fish. They looked incredibly bored. Their long hair floated listlessly around their faces, and their eyes were half closed.

"How can you keep them here?" Percy asked, glaring at Kate.

"I know," Kate sighed. "They aren't very interesting. We tried to teach them some tricks, but with no luck, I'm afraid. I think you'll like this tank over here much better." Percy looked ready to protest, but Kate had already moved on.

"Holy mother of goats!" Hedge exclaimed. "Look at these beauties!" He was gawking at two sea serpents - thirty-foot-long monsters with glowing blue scales and jaws that could have bitten a whale shark in half. In another tank, peeking out from its cement cave, was a squid the size of an eighteen-wheeler, with a beak like a giant bolt cutter. A third tank held a dozen humanoid creatures with sleek seal bodies, doglike faces, and human hands. They sat at the bottom of the tank, building things out of Legos, thought the creatures seemed just as dazed as the Nereids.

"Are those…?" Percy began, struggling to form the question.

"Telkhines?" Kate finished. "Yes! The only ones in captivity."

"But they fought for Kronos in the last war!" Percy said. "They're dangerous!" Kate rolled her eyes.

"Well, we couldn't call it "Death in the Deep Seas" if these exhibits weren't dangerous. Don't worry. We keep them well sedated."

"Sedated?" Frank asked. "Is that legal?" Kate appeared not to have heard. She kept walking, pointing out other exhibits. Percy and I looked back at the telkhines. One was obviously a youngster. He was trying to make a sword out of Legos, but he seemed too groggy to put the pieces together. I felt real sorry for them. Maybe they were dangerous sea demons, but surely they didn't deserve being locked up like this, right? I was reminded of what Veon had said before. No matter what Nico had done, he didn't deserve to just die suffocating while trapped in a bronze jar.

"And  _these_  sea monsters," Kate continued narrating up ahead. "They can grow 500 feet long in the deep ocean. They have over a thousand teeth. And these? Their favorite food is demigod-"

"Demigod?" Frank yelped.

"But they will eat whales or small boats, too." She turned to Percy and I and blushed. "Sorry. I'm  _such_  a monster nerd! I'm sure you know all this, being children of Poseidon and all." So Kate knew who we were too, huh? It wasn't much of a surprise, but that didn't mean I liked it.

"Who  _are_  you?" Percy demanded. "Does Kate stand for something?"

"Kate?" She looked momentarily confused. Then she glanced at her name tag. "Oh…" She laughed. "No, it's-"

"Hello!" A new voice said, booming through the aquarium. A small man scuttled out of the darkness. He walked sideways on bowed legs like a crab, his back hunched, his arms raised on either side like he was holding invisible plates. He wore a wetsuit that was several horrible shades of green. Glittery silver words printed down the side read:  **PORKY'S FOLLIES**. A headset microphone was clamped over his greasy wiry hair. His eyes were milky blue, one higher than the other, and though he smiled, he didn't look friendly - more like his face was being peeled back by a wind tunnel.

"Visitors!" He said, the word thundering through the microphone. He had a DJ's voice, deep and resonant, which did not at all match his appearance. "Welcome to Phorcys's Follies!" He swept his arms in one direction, as if directing our attention to an explosion, but nothing happened. "Curse it," The man grumbled. "Telkhines, that's your cue! I wave my hands and you leap energetically in your tank, do a synchronized double spin, and land in a pyramid formation. We practiced this!" The sea demons paid him no attention. Coach Hedge leaned towards the crab man and sniffed his glittery wet suit.

" _Nice_  outfit." He didn't sound like he was kidding. Of course, the satyr wore gym uniforms for fun.

"Thank you!" The man beamed. "I am Phorcys." Frank shifted his weight from foot to foot.

"Why does your suit say Porky?" Phorcys snarled.

"Stupid uniform company! They can't get anything right." Kate tapped her name tag.

"I told them my name was Keto, and they misspelled it as Kate. My brother…well, now he's Porky."

"I am not!" The man snapped. "I'm not even a  _little_  porky. The name doesn't work with Follies, either. What kind of show is called Porky's Follies? But you folks don't want to hear us complain. Behold, the wondrous majesty of the giant killer squid!" He gestured dramatically toward the squid tank. This time, fireworks shot off him in from of the glass right on cue, sending up geysers of golden sparkles. Music swelled from the loudspeakers, and the lights brightened to reveal the wondrous majesty of an empty tank. The squid had apparently skulked back into its cave.

"Curse it!" Phorcys yelled again. He wheeled on his sister. "Keto, training the squid was  _your_  job. Juggling, I said. Maybe a bit of flesh-rendering for the finale. Is that too much to ask?"

"He's shy," Keto said defensively. "Besides, each of his tentacles has 62 razor-like barbs that have to be sharpened daily." She turned toward Frank. "Did you know the monstrous squid is the only beast known to eat demigods whole, armor and all, without getting indigestion? It's true!" Frank stumbled away from her, hugging his gut as if making sure he was still in one piece.

"How does that work?" I asked. "Wouldn't that be unhealthy?"

"Keto!" Porky snapped - literally, since he clicked his fingers to his thumbs like crab claws. "You'll bore our guests with so much information. Less education, more entertainment! We've discussed this."

"But-"

"No buts! We're here to present "Death in the Deep Seas!" Sponsored by Monster Donut!" The last words reverberated through the room with extra echo. Lights flashed, and smoke clouds billowed from the floor, making donut-shaped rings that smelled like real donuts. "Available at the concession stand. But you've spent your hard-earned denarii and drachma to get the VIP tour, and so you shall! Come with me!"

"Um, hold it," Percy said. Phorcys's smile melted in an ugly way.

"Yes?"

"You're a sea god, aren't you? Son of Gaea?" The crab man sighed.

"Five thousand years and I'm still known as Gaea's little boy. Nevermind that I'm one of the oldest sea gods in existence. Older than  _your_  upstart father, by the way. I'm god of the hidden depths! Lord of watery terrors! Father of a thousand monsters! But no, nobody even knows me. I make one little mistake, supporting the Titans in their war, and I'm exiled from the ocean - to Atlanta of all places."

"We thought the Olympians said  _Atlantis_ ," Keto explained. "Their idea of a joke, I guess, sending us here instead."

"So you're a goddess?" I asked.

"Keto, yes!" She smiled happily. "Goddess of sea monsters, naturally! Whales, sharks, squids, and other giant sea life, but my heart always belonged to monsters. Did you know that young sea serpents can regurgitate the flesh of their victims and keep themselves fed for up to six years on the same meal? It's true!" Frank was still clutching his stomach like he was going to be sick. Hedge whistled.

"Six years? That's fascinating!"

"I know!" Keto beamed.

"But if they regurgitate it, they wouldn't get the nutrients, right?" I asked. "And we demigods aren't  _that_ healthy. Six years sounds like a lot of time, and they're bound to run into more food within that amount of time."

"Of course, but they have a way of conserving the amount of nutrients they gain from their meal, and don't have to use the technique for the maximum amount of time every time."

"And how exactly does a killer squid rend the flesh from its victims?" Hedge asked. "I  _love_  nature!"

"Yeah, squids always look really slow," I agreed. "How precise are they?"

"Oh, well-"

"Stop!" Phorcys demanded. "You're ruining the show! Now, witness our Nereid gladiators fight to the death!" A mirrored disco ball descended into the Nereid exhibit, making the water dance with multicolored light. Two swords fell to the bottom and plunked in the sand. The Nereids ignored them and kept playing Go Fish. "Curse it!" Phorcys stomped his legs sideways. Keto grimaced at Coach Hedge.

"Don't mind Porky. He's  _such_  a windbag. Come with me, my fine satyr. I'll show you full-color diagrams of the monsters' hunting habits."

"Excellent!" Before any of us could object, Keto led Coach Hedge away through a maze of aquarium glass, leaving us along with a crabby sea god. I saw the boys exchanging nervous glances. None of us seemed to see any way the encounter was going to end well, though if it did, that would've been the real surprise. Part of me wanted to flee from this place right now before we lost anyone, but we hadn't gotten any information out of Phorcys. I wasn't sure if we'd be able to find Coach Hedge again, let alone the exit. There was a lot of water here, and if we ran into an emergency, maybe we could just blow the roof off this place in a hurricane. Phorcys must've read our expressions.

"Oh, it's fine!" The god assured us. "Keto might be a little boring, but she'll take good care of your friend. And honestly, the best part of the tour is still to come!" I felt like I was starting to get a migraine. Maybe it was Phorcys's special effects.

"So…Dionysus sent us here," Percy said, seemingly a bit dazed as well.

"Bacchus," Frank corrected.

"Right," Percy said, sounding annoyed. Remembering one name for each god was hard enough. Two must've been pushing it for him. "The wine god. Whatever." He looked at Phorcys. "Bacchus said you might know what your mom Gaea is up to, and these twin giant brothers of yours - Ephialtes and Otis. And if you happen to know anything about this Mark of Athena-"

"Bacchus thought I would help you?" Phorcys asked.

"Well yeah," I said. "I mean, you're Phorcys. Everybody talks about you." Phorcys tilted his head so that his mismatched eyes almost lined up.

"They do?"

"Of course." This guy was looking for a show, so that meant stroking his ego might work well to get answers out of him. "Don't they, Frank?"

"Oh…sure!" Frank said. "People talk about you all the time."

"What do they say?" The god asked.

"You've got great pyrotechnics," I said.

"And a good announcer's voice," Percy added.

"And, um, a disco ball-" Frank tried.

"It's true!" Phorcys said, clacking his fingers and thumbs in excitement. "I also have the largest collection of captive sea monsters in the world!"

"And you  _know_  stuff," I said. "Like about the twins and what they're up to."

"The twins!" Phorcys made his voice echo. Sparklers blazed to life in front of the sea serpent tank. "Yes, I know all about Ephialtes and Otis. Those wannabes! They never fit in with the other giants. Too puny - and those snakes for feet."

"Snakes for feet?" Percy asked. I guess they did have long curly shoes back in my dream.

"Yes, yes," The god said impatiently. "They knew they couldn't get by on their strength, so they decided to go for drama - illusions, stage tricks, that sort of thing. You see, Gaea  _shaped_  her giant children with specific enemies in mind. Each giant was born to kill a certain god. Ephialtes and Otis…well, together they were sort of the anti-Dionysus." Percy looked like he was trying to wrap his mind around that idea.

"So…they wanted to replace all the wine with cranberry juice or something?" The sea god snorted.

"Nothing like that! Ephialtes and Otis always wanted to do things better, flashier, more spectacular! Oh, of course they wanted to kill Dionysus, but first they wanted to humiliate him by making his revelries look tame!" Frank glanced at the sparklers.

"By using stuff like fireworks and disco balls?" Phorcys's mouth stretched into that wind tunnel smile.

"Exactly! I taught the twins everything they know, or at least I tried to. They never listened. Their first trick? They tried to reach Olympus by piling mountains on top of one another. It was just an illusion, of course. I told them it was ridiculous. "You should start small," I said. "Sawing each other in half, pulling gorgons out of a hat. That sort of thing. And matching sequined outfits. Twins need those!"

"Good advice," I agreed. "And now the twins are…"

"Oh, preparing for their doomsday show in Rome. It's one of mother's silly ideas. They're keeping some prisoner in a bronze jar." He turned toward Frank. "You're a child of Ares, aren't you? You've got that smell. The twins imprisoned your father the same way once."

"Child of Mars," Frank corrected. "Wait…these giants trapped my dad in a bronze jar?"

"Yes, another stupid stunt. How can you show off your prisoner if he's in a bronze jar? No entertainment value. Not like my lovely specimens!" He gestured to the hippocampi, who were bonking their heads pathetically against the glass. The image was so sad, and I think it was making me sick.

"You said this…this doomsday show was Gaea's idea?" Percy asked.

"Well…mother's plans always have a lot of layers." He laughed. "The earth has layers! I suppose that makes sense!"

"Uh-huh," I agreed. "And so her plan…"

"Oh, she's put out a general bounty on some group of demigods. She doesn't really care  _who_  kills them, as long as they're killed. Well…I take that back. She was very specific that  _two_  must be spared. One boy and one girl. Tartarus knows why. At any rate, the twins have their little show planned, hoping it will lure these demigods to Rome. I suppose the prisoner in the jar is a friend of theirs or some such. That, or perhaps they think this group of demigods will be foolish enough to come into their territory searching for the Mark of Athena." Phorcys elbowed Frank in the ribs. "Ha! Good luck with that, eh?" Frank laughed nervously.

"Yeah. Ha-ha. That would be really dumb because, uh…" Percy slipped his hand into his pocket. Phorcys must be smart enough to realize we were the ones with the bounty on our head. But Phorcys just grinned and elbowed Frank again.

"Ha! Good one, child of Mars. I suppose you're right. No point talking about it. Even if the demigods found that map in Charleston, they'd never make it to Rome alive!"

"Yes the MAP IN CHARLESTON," Frank said loudly, giving a wide-eyed look to make sure we hadn't missed the information. He couldn't have been more obvious if he had held up a large sign that read  _CLUE!_  Yes, Frank, I believe we heard him.

"Of course," I said calmly as though Frank hadn't said anything. "They're bound to die."

"But enough with boring educational stuff!" Phorcys said. "You've paid for the VIP treatment. Won't you  _please_  let me finish the tour? The twelve denarii and drachma entry fee is nonrefundable, you know." The three of us shared a flew glances, and we silently decided that we needed to humor the crabby old god, at least until we found Coach Hedge and got safely to the exit. Besides, we needed to get more information out of Phorcys.

"Afterword," Percy said. "Can we ask questions?"

"Of course! I'll tell you everything you need to know." Phorcys clapped his hands twice. On the wall under the glowing red sign, a new tunnel appeared, leading into another tank.

"Walk this way!" Phorcys scuttled sideways through the tunnel. Frank scratched his head.

"Do we have to…?" He turned sideways.

"I think it's just a figure of speech, man," I said. "Come on." The tunnel ran along the floor of a gymnasium-sized tank. Except for water and some cheap decorations, it seemed majestically empty. There had to be about fifty-thousand gallons of water over our heads. I've never had it happen before, but I still worried what would happen if that thing shattered for some reason. Water was my home court, sure, but I still knew how to hold my breath. After the whole muskeg incident, I realized that it might be wise to keep training to hold my breath even if I could breath underwater.

For a large amount of time in my life, I didn't know I could breathe underwater. I mean if you're told that humans can't breathe underwater, then you're going to hold your breath when you dive and come up before you run out of air. I can breathe underwater, sure, but that doesn't mean I can hold my breath any longer than any other person. It was only once my friend dragged me into the lazy river at a pool and the jets swept me away when I was too short that I learned I could stay under indefinitely. Under normal circumstances, I would've drowned. The lifeguard? An idiot! I came up once near the lifeguard stand, but there was a jet that was pulling me away. The dude offered me a hand,  _offered me a freaking hand_  when I was  _struggling to keep my head above water_ , but when I reached for it, the jet swept me under, and he let me go! He didn't jump in after me when I was clearly choking on water in panic! I was clinging to the walls of the pool and circled that thing twice before I was finally able to escape. Not to mention there was a waterfall that forced me under a couple times. I would have died like twenty times if not for my special circumstances. Long story short, people can sometimes suck.

I digress. Where were we again? Oh right, crazy crab dude. For some reason, this place was making me really nervous. The water was resonating differently, like someone else was controlling it. Considering we were in Phorcys's domain, I assumed that was normal. Every time we went through one of these tunnels, I realized that all he had to do was cut off the entrance and exit and we'd be trapped under tens of thousands of gallons of water. Call it claustrophobia, but these tunnels were seriously starting to scare me. It was only a matter of time before Phorcys moved to attack or capture us. The capturing itself wasn't the scary part, it was the anticipation of knowing it was coming but not knowing when. Phorcys stopped in the middle of the tunnel and spread his arms proudly.

"Beautiful exhibit, isn't it?" I looked around. In one corner of the tank, snuggled in a forest of fake kelp, was a life-sized plastic gingerbread cottage with bubbles coming out of the chimney. In the opposite corner, a plastic sculpture of a guy in an old-fashioned diving suit knelt beside a treasure chest, which popped open every few seconds, spewed bubbles, and closed again. Littered across the white sand floor were glass marbles the size of bowling balls, and a strange assortment of weapons like tridents and spear-guns. Outside the tank's display wall was an amphitheater with seating for several hundred.

"What do you keep in here?" Frank asked. "Giant killer goldfish?" Phorcys raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, that would be good! But no, Frank Zhang, descendant of Poseidon. This tank is not for goldfish." At  _descendant of Poseidon_ , Frank flinched. He stepped back, gripping his backpack like a mace he was prepared to swing. I sighed. Hurry up with the trap, dude, so we can escape from it.

"How do you know Frank's last name?" Percy demanded. "How do you know he's descended from Poseidon?"

"Well…" Phorcys shrugged, trying to look modest. "It was probably in the descriptions Gaea provided. You know, for the bounty, Percy Jackson." Percy uncapped his pen. Instantly, Riptide appeared in his hand.

"Don't double-cross, us Phorcys. You promised us answers."

"After the VIP treatment, yes. I promised to tell you everything you need to know. The thing is, however, you don't really need to know anything." His grotesque smile stretched wide. "You see, even if you made it to Rome, which is  _quite_  unlikely, you'd never defeat my giants brothers without a god fighting at your side. And what god would help you? So I have a better plan. You're not leaving. You're VIPs - Very Important Prisoners!" Percy lunged and Frank hurled his backpack at the sea god's head. Phorcys simply disappeared.

"Well, that was to be expected," I sighed.

"Yes, good!" The god's voice reverberated through the aquarium's sound system, echoing down the tunnel. "Fighting is good! You see, mother never trusted me with big assignments, but she  _did_  agree that I could keep anything I caught. You three will make an excellent exhibit - the only demigod spawn of Poseidon in captivity. "Demigod Terrors!" - yes, I like that! We already have sponsorship lined up with Bargain Mart. You can fight each other every day at eleven AM and one PM, with an evening show at seven PM."

"You're crazy!" Frank yelled.

"Don't sell yourself short! You'll be our biggest draw!" Frank ran for the exit, only to slam into a glass wall. Percy ran for the other and found it blocked as well. The tunnel had become a bubble, just like in all my worst nightmares. I put my hand on the glass and realized it was melting like ice. Soon the water would come crashing in.

"We won't cooperate, Phorcys!" Percy shouted.

"Oh, I'm optimistic. If you won't fight each other first, no problem! I can send in fresh sea monsters every day. After you get used to the food here, you'll be properly sedated and will follow directions. Believe me, you'll love your new home." Above my head, the glass dome cracked and began to leak.

"Yeah right, crab brain!" I shouted. "We're not staying here and we're not your entertainment! No sedative can make us compliant!"

"I'm the son of Poseidon!" Percy said, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. "You can't imprison me in water. This is where I'm strongest."

"What a coincidence!" Phorcys said. "It's also where  _I'm_  strongest. This tank is specially designed to contain demigods. Now, have fun, you three. I'll see you at feeding time!" The glass dome shattered and water came crashing in. As the water surrounded us, I found my water powers still working at full capacity, so Phorcys wasn't restricting that. Frank transformed - clothes, backpack and all - into a koi the size of a teenage boy. Percy was looking around frantically below us when he looked up and noticed Frank.

" ** _Dude,_** " His mental voice said through the water. " ** _A goldfish?_** "

" ** _I freaked,_** " Frank said. " ** _We were talking about goldfish, so it was on my mind. Sue me._** "

" ** _We're currently having a telepathic conversation with a giant koi,_** " I muttered. " ** _Well okay then. Can you transform into anything else?_** " There was silence as Frank seemed to be concentrating on something else, though it was impossible to tell since koi don't have many expressions.

" ** _Sorry._** " Frank sounded embarrassed. " ** _I'm stuck. That happens sometimes when I panic._** "

" ** _Fine,_** " Percy said, gritting his teeth. " ** _Let's figure out how to escape._** " Frank and I swam around before reporting no exits. The top was covered with Celestial bronze mesh, like the curtains that roll down over closed storefronts at the mall. Percy tried to cut through with Riptide, but he couldn't make a dent. My trident refused to even expand, and my dagger and sword were as worthless as Percy's. We tried to smash through the glass wall with our weapons, but to no avail. Percy went to the effort of repeating the process with several of the weapons lying around the bottom of the tank and managed to break three tridents, a sword, and a spear-gun. He and I tried controlling the water, but the water didn't obey, maybe enchanted or under Phorcys's control. I gave up and started thinking of a way out, but Percy insisted on concentrating until his ears popped. The best he could do was blow the lid off the plastic treasure chest.

"Okay, so we can't control the water very easily," I said, my voice clear through the water. "There's no cutting the mesh or breaking the glass without some kind of outside help. My trident isn't working, but possibly it could work as a cuff. Maybe we could try throwing one of these bowling balls."

"That's it," Percy said dejectedly, sitting criss-cross on said bowling balls of marble. "I'll have to live in a plastic gingerbread house the rest of my life, fighting against my giant goldfish friend and waiting for feeding time."

"To hell with that," I said. "There's gotta be a way out. Maybe the others will come for us if we don't return." I thought about all my training with Zy.

" _If water won't obey you because someone has more power and/or a stronger will, what do you do? You don't have power over water, therefore swimming puts you at a disadvantage. If everything around you is against you instead of with you, how do you compensate?_ "

" _You change the location of the battle, try and make their water power worthless._ "

" _And if you're trapped in a tank or under the sea?_ "

" _Focus on your other skills. Physical attacks and defenses are your only option. Consider what you've lost and what you have._ " I had my ability to breath underwater for one. I could communicate with sea creatures, but there weren't any others in our tank or with access to it that might be able to come to our aid. Freezing or boiling the water wasn't working either. The glass was hard to break by any weapon, but it seemed like an easier option than the mesh. Controlling the water seemed feasible, even if it would be a harder task than usual.

" _When you're having trouble controlling water, focus on a song._ "

" _I'm not an Apollo girl. Songs won't do me much good._ "

" _A song focuses one's mind, whether they be related to some music oriented being or not. If you don't focus too hard and let your mind work on its own, then a song will give you more control than any of your enemies. Sound can mess with anyone's control. If you can utilize the vibrations in the water, you can overpower someone else's power._ "

" _Well do I just sing a song I like, or do I have to focus on a certain genre?_ "

" _Some whales have the ability to create sonar loud enough to break ones eardrums if done in the air. You have the potential for extremely powerful sound waves in the water, even if it's under someone else's control. Just hold a note and it should resonate with the water. Depending on the water you're in and who you're fighting for control over may affect what pitch will do the most work. If you're in a tank, then it should be easy to find the pitch that will shatter it._ "

I tapped the glass. I'm not sure what pitch would break it, but if I could sing a note and get this water to work for me, then we might be in business. Starting small, I whistled and held a note. I concentrated and felt the water around me slightly vibrating. I needed a song with long notes that I could zone out with. I started with just singing a C and then moving up and down, feeling the notes. I wasn't doing a song, just choosing notes that sounding like they'd make a flowing tune. I kept the song slow and gave a whole note for each pitch.

"Audrey, what are you doing?" Percy asked. I stopped singing, but then realized how much effect the notes were having on the water. Without that hum that I'd put in it, it just felt cold and heavy.

"If I can find the right pitch, I might be able to break the glass or take control of the water again. Unless you have a better idea."

"Higher notes were thinner and more piercing, but lower notes were thicker and more pushing. Whatever you chose, you need to be louder." I took a deep breath and began to sing a lower note. He was right. The lower note made more of a booming push through the water. I moved to a higher note and found it more piercing, slicing farther through the water but spreading more thin so that it had less of a vibrating effect. Lower notes it was. I may have been an alto, but I was only an Alto I, meaning I was on the higher range of alto. Even Veon, who was a tenor with a very surprisingly great falsetto, would be able to reach lower notes than me, granted he was a male so that was natural. Still, I was more comfortable in lower parts than Zy might be, so this would work.

" ** _Look!_** " Frank suddenly said. Outside the glass, Keto was leading Coach Hedge through the amphitheater, lecturing him on something while the coach nodded and admired the stadium seating.

" ** _Coach!_** " Percy shouted, before realizing he was yelling telepathically and Hedge wouldn't hear him. Frank bumped his head against the glass, but Hedge didn't seem to notice.

"Hedge!" I shouted, pounding the glass, but the water's density slowed my hands so that I was barely tapping them no matter how much force I put in. "Gleeson! Coach! Hey!" Keto walked him briskly across the amphitheater. She didn't even look through the glass, maybe because she knew we were in here and didn't want Hedge to know, or because she thought the tank was still empty. She pointed to the far end of the room and began to lead him away. We had only seconds before the coach would be gone, so we needed to do something fast. The glass seemed to be sound-proof, at least to any pounding I was doing. Percy tried to swim after them, but the water didn't help him move like it usually did. In fact, it seemed to be pushing him back. He dropped Riptide and used both arms. I pounded my trident against the glass, hoping to make some kind of clanging noise, but I wasn't able to make enough momentum with the water fighting me. In desperation, I scooped up a giant marble and lifted it.

"Percy!" I shouted. He turned and grabbed the marble with me. Together we hurled it with all our might. Our combined strength managed to fight the water's resistance, but it hit the glass with a light  _thunk_  - not nearly loud enough to attract attention. Five feet left. I dived for another before taking a deep breath and then holding out a low note with all my strength and infusing it with all the power I could. The water around us vibrated and seemed to loosen up, and then I threw the thing underhand like a bowling ball and the thing whacked the glass with force, and even made a cracking sound.

Hedge, thankfully having the ears of a satyr, glanced over his shoulder. Anyone else would still have had trouble hearing that, but thank goodness he insisted on coming with us. When he saw us, his expression went through several changes in a matter of microseconds - incomprehension, surprise, outrage, then a mask of calm. Before Keto could notice, Hedge pointed toward the top of the amphitheater, and if I was reading his lips right, he was saying something along the lines of " _Gods of Olympus, what is that?!_ "

It was nearly as bad as " _Hey look, it says gullible on the ceiling!_ " but Keto turned to him looking ready to answer some question. Hedge promptly took off his fake foot and ninja-kicked her in the back of the head with his giant goat hoof. Keto crumpled to the floor, and I saw Percy wince. His recently whooped head must've been throbbing in sympathy. Still, I had never been so happy to have a chaperone who liked mixed martial arts cage matches.

Hedge ran to the glass and held up his palms like " _What the hell are you two doing in there?!_ "

The two of us pounded on the glass and mouthed " _Break it!_ " I attempted to read his lips as best I could, and after processing for a moment, I translated his question.

" _Where's Frank?_ " We both pointed to the giant koi. Frank waved his left dorsal fin.

" ** _Sup?_** " Behind Hedge, the sea goddess began to move. Percy pointed frantically, and Hedge shook his leg like he was warming up his kicking hoof, but Percy then waved his arms to stop him. We couldn't keep whooping Keto in the head forever. Since she was immortal, she wouldn't stay down forever, and it wouldn't get us out of this tank. Not to mention it was only a matter of time before Phorcys came to check on us.

"On three!" Percy said, holding up three fingers. "Audrey, sing and try to weaken the water and glass. All of us hit it at the same time!" Hedge nodded, seemingly getting the point. Hitting things was a language that satyr knew well. Percy hefted another giant marble and I drew my sword.

" ** _Frank, we'll need you too. Can you change form yet?_** "

" ** _Maybe back to human._** "

" ** _Human is fine! Just hold your breath. If this works…_** " Keto rose to her knees.

"No time to waste!" I warned. Percy counted on his fingers.

"One, two three!" I let out the loudest note I could and infused it with all the power I could, the water and glass vibrating like we'd been put over one of those giant speakers, while I also slammed my sword into it, creating a large crack. Frank turned into a human and shoved his shoulder against the glass, coach did a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick with his hoof, and Percy used all his strength to slam the marble into the wall. With the water now working on our frequency, the two of us were able to gain control over the water, feeling the pent-up pressure inside the tank and putting it to use. Water liked to be free. Given time, water could overcome any barrier, and it  _hated_  to be trapped. I thought about destroying this horrible prison for sea creatures and shoving Phorcys's microphone down his ugly throat. Clearly Percy was thinking the same things, as our wills worked together to push against the water. Fifty thousand gallons of water responded to our anger.

The glass wall cracked. Fracture lines zigzagged from the point of impact, and I screamed my note, increasing its pitch and concentrating the sharp force into that fissure I'd made to widen it. The entire glass wall vibrated under the frequency and the water pressure, and suddenly the tank burst. We were sucked out in a torrent of water, tumbling across the amphitheater with Frank, some large marbles, and a clump of plastic seaweed. Keto was just getting to her feet when the diver statue slammed into her like it wanted a hug. Hedge spit salt water.

"Pan's pipes, Jackson! What were you and Mavepo  _doing_  in there?"

"Phorcys! Trap! Run!" Percy spluttered. Alarms blared as we fled the exhibits. We ran past the Nereids' tank, then the telkhines. I wanted to free them, but there was no way we could free them all and ship them to the ocean. They were drugged and sluggish, and with this being Phorcys's domain, we didn't have the time to waste to try and free all them even if I was somehow able to control the water and contain them in a bubble of it for transportation. Besides, if Phorcys caught us, I wasn't sure I'd be able to overcome his power even with Percy and my new sonar technique. Not to mention Keto was probably already after us too, ready to feed us to her sea monsters. We'd be back. We  _had_  to come back for these poor creatures. The only difference between them and Nico was that Nico was in Rome. They deserved to be freed even if it would do little good to the world.

" ** _I'll be back,_** " I heard Percy promise them, but if the creatures in the exhibits could hear him, they gave no sign.

"Percy Jackson!" Phorcys's voice boomed over the sound system. Flash pots and sparklers exploded randomly, donut-scented smoke filled the halls, dramatic music - five or six different tracks - blared simultaneously, and lights popped and caught fire as all the special effects in the building were triggered at once.

We stumbled out of the glass tunnel and found ourselves back in the whale shark room. The mortal section of the aquarium was filled with screaming crowds - families and day camp groups running in every direction while the staff raced around frantically, trying to assure everyone it was just a faulty alarm. We knew better. We joined the mortals and ran for the exit.


	16. Now to Charleston and Kaze's Runes

First Person: Lucy

Once I'd finally explained Kaze being my little brother, a son of Hermes, who spoke only Japanese and had a knack for stealing things with incredible speed (as well as gotten him to give back Leo's tool belt), Frank stumbled into the mess hall.

"Take off! Take off!" All of us shot to our feet.

"Where's  _Percy?_ " Annabeth demanded. "And Audrey and the goat?" Frank grabbed his knees, trying to breathe. His clothes were stiff and damp like they'd been washed in pure starch.

"On deck. They're fine. We're being followed!" We hurried above deck, Frank trailing, still gasping for air.

Percy, Hedge, and Audrey lay on the deck, looking exhausted. Hedge was missing his shoes. He grinned at the sky muttering, "Awesome. Awesome." Percy and Audrey were covered in nicks and scratches like they'd jumped through a window. Audrey waved as she sat against a mast, trying to catch her breath, while Percy grasped Annabeth's hand weakly as if to say " _Be right with you, as soon as the world stops spinning._ "

"What? What?" Leo cried, holding a half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich. "Can't a guy even take a lunch break? What's wrong?"

"Followed!" Frank yelled again.

"Followed by  _what?_ " Jason asked.

"I don't know!" Frank panted. "Whales? Sea monsters? Maybe Kate and Porky!"

" _Tatakai?!_ " Kaze asked, with a little too much enthusiasm.

"That makes absolutely no sense," Annabeth said, looking ready to strangle the guy, though I wasn't sure her hands would fit around his thick neck. "Leo, you'd better get us out of here." Leo put his sandwich between his teeth pirate style and ran for the helm. Soon, the Argo II was rising into the sky. Annabeth manned the aft crossbow, and Kaze looked over the railing, moving back and forth across the deck looking for any signs of a fight. He seemed to have gathered a disturbing excitement for battle. He was disappointed when he reported no signs of pursuit by whales or otherwise, but Percy, Frank, and Hedge didn't start to recover until the Atlanta skyline was a hazy smudge in the distance.

"Charleston," Audrey said, having calmed a while ago. "Set a course for Charleston."

"Charleston?" Jason asked, saying the name as if it had brought back bad memories. "What exactly did you find in Atlanta?" Frank unzipped his backpack and started bringing out souvenirs.

"Some peach preserves. A couple of T-shirts. A snow globe. And, um, these not-really-Chinese handcuffs." Annabeth seemed to be visibly struggling to stay calm.

"How about you start from the top - of the story, not the backpack." We gathered on the quarterdeck so Leo could hear the conversation as he navigated. Percy, Frank and Audrey took turns relating what happened at the Georgia Aquarium, with Hedge interjecting from time to time with a "That was awesome!" or "Then I kicked her in the head!" At least the coach seemed to have forgotten about Percy and Annabeth falling asleep in the stable the night before, though judging from the story, we had worse problems to worry about than being grounded. When Percy and Audrey explained the captive sea creatures in the aquarium, I understood why they seemed so down.

"That's terrible," Emily said. "We need to help them."

"We will," Percy promised. "In time. But we have to figure out  _how_. I wish…" He shook his head. "Nevermind. First, we have to deal with this bounty on our heads." Coach Hedge had lost interest in the conversation - probably because it was no longer about him - and wandered toward the bow of the ship, practicing his roundhouse kicks and complimenting himself on his technique. I repeated what Percy said in Japanese for Kaze, working as fast as I could to keep him up to date on the conversation, and he blinked.

" _Bounty? Sure._ " He reached into his jacket and dug around in the infinite pockets for a moment. There was some clanking, and I wondered how much he'd already taken from the ship alone. After a moment, there was a crinkling sound and he pulled out a scroll of paper. It had kanji symbols on it, but I took it and recited it in English. It took me a moment of reading it because I hadn't read kanji in years.

"There's a description of all of you, including my team, your names, your godly parent, powers, weaknesses, etc. The Argo II is mentioned as our vessel. They want my team alive, and if possible two other demigods, a boy, and a girl, but if they can only capture Veon and someone else from my team, they'll still be a reward from Gaea. As this paper's in Japanese, I'd assume this is worldwide, so not only in the U.S." Annabeth gripped the hilt of her dagger.

"A bounty on our heads…as if we didn't attract enough monsters already."

"Do we get personal  **WANTED**  posters?" Leo asked. "And do they have our bounties, like broken down on a price list?"

" _Ototo, are there different versions of the poster? Possibly one for each person?_ " He shook his head.

" _There's only that, as far as I know._ " Hazel crinkled her nose.

" _What_  are you talking about?"

"Just curious how much I'm going for these days," Leo said. "I mean, I can understand not being as pricey as Percy or Jason, maybe…but am I worth, like two Franks, or three Franks?"

"Hey!" Frank complained.

"There are no separate prices on you guys," I said. "All of you would be equal in value one way or another. All of you possess skills required for this quest. At the least we know our next step is to go to Charleston, to find this map." Piper leaned against the control panel. She'd done her braid with white feathers today, which looked good with her dark brown hair. Where the heck did she find the time for that? I could barely find the time to  _brush_  my hair in the mornings.

"A map," Piper muttered. "But a map to  _what?_ "

"The Mark of Athena," Audrey suggested. "Whatever it is, we know it leads to something important in Rome, and Phorcys was saying that "even if we found the map, we'd never make it to Rome," suggesting said map leads to something in Rome. Of course, that's just a hypothesis, but it makes sense. Whatever this is, it might help us heal the rift between the Romans and Greeks."

"The giants' bane," Hazel added. Percy nodded.

"In my dream, the twin giants said something about a statue."

"Um…" Frank rolled his not-exactly-Chinese handcuffs between his fingers. "According to Phorcys, we'd have to be insane to try to find it. But what  _is_  it?"

" _Kaze, any idea?_ " Veon asked, but Kaze shook his head.

" _I've never been to Rome._ " Everyone looked to Annabeth, and she seemed to be pondering things, something she knew. Emily had informed me of what she'd learned from Annabeth about her dream, and I knew the pieces were coming together. Jason seemed to be studying her, as if he knew what she was thinking and didn't like it any more than she did.

"I…I'm close to an answer," She said. "I'll know more if we find this map. Jason, the way you reacted to the name Charleston…have you been there before?" He glanced uneasily at Piper.

"Yeah," He admitted. "Reyna and I did a quest there about a year ago. We were salvaging Imperial gold weapons from the C.S.S.  _Hunley_."

"The what?" Piper asked.

"Whoa!" Leo exclaimed. "That's the first successful military submarine. From the Civil War. I always wanted to see that."

"It was designed by Roman demigods," Jason explained. "It held a secret stash of Imperial gold torpedoes - until we rescued them and brought them back to Camp Jupiter." Hazel crossed her arms.

"So the Romans fought on the Confederate side? As a girl whose grandmother was a slave, can I just say…not cool?" Jason put his hands in front of him, palms up.

"I personally was not alive then. And it wasn't  _all_  Greeks on one side and  _all_  Romans on the other. But yes, not cool. Sometimes demigods make bad choices." He looked sheepishly at Hazel and Veon. "Like sometimes we're too suspicious, and we speak without thinking." Hazel stared at him, and slowly it dawned on her that he was apologizing. Jason elbowed Leo.

"Ow!" Leo yelped. "I mean, yeah…bad choices. Like not trusting people's brothers who, you know, might need saving. Hypothetically speaking." Veon nodded in approval while Hazel just pursed her lips.

"Fine."

" _Brother who needs saving?_ " Kaze asked, pointing at himself.

" _No, Veon-san has a brother that needs saving,_ " I told him. He looked to Veon before looking down. He passed over Veon's two rings.

" _Gomen'nasai…_ "

"How the heck did you get these?" Veon asked. " _When_  did you get these?"

"He's got the stealing skills of Hermes himself, along with the speed," I explained. "He makes the Stoll brothers look dull and Luke Castellan look like an amateur sword fighter. Overall, my brother is the scariest demigod you will ever meet. The only thing that he didn't get from his dad was the ability to teleport like a god can. I'll try and keep him in line. Anyway, back to Charleston. Are you saying we should check the submarine again?" Jason shrugged.

"Well…I can think of  _two_  places in Charleston we might search. The museum where they keep the Hunley - that's one of them. It has a lot of relics from the Civil War. A map could be hidden in one. I know the layout. I could lead a team inside."

"I'll go," Leo said. "That sounds cool." Jason nodded. He turned to Frank, who was trying to pull his fingers out of the Chinese handcuffs.

"You should come too, Frank. We might need you." Frank looked surprised.

"Why? Not like I was much good at that aquarium."

"You did fine," Percy assured him. "It took all of us to break that glass."

"Besides, you're a child of Mars," Jason said. "The ghosts of defeated causes are bound to serve you. And the museum in Charleston has  _plenty_  of Confederate ghosts. We'll need you to keep them in line." Frank gulped.

"Okay," He relented. "Sure."

"Then I guess Veon would be the best addition from my team," I said. "Ghosts are his best friends. Plus, an all boys team seems safer considering a boy and a girl are what Gaea is looking for." Frank frowned at his fingers, trying to pull them out of the trap.

"Uh, how do you…?" Leo chuckled.

"Man, you've never seen those before? There's a simple trick to getting out." Frank tugged again with no luck. Even Hazel was trying not to laugh. Frank grimaced with concentration, and then suddenly he disappeared. On the deck where he'd been standing, a green iguana crouched next to an empty set of Chinese handcuffs.

"Whelp, that's one way to escape," Audrey commented.

"Well done, Frank Zhang," Leo said dryly, doing his impression of Chiron the centaur. "That is exactly how people beat Chinese handcuffs. They turn into iguanas." Everybody burst out laughing. Frank turned back to human, picked up the handcuffs, and shoved them in his backpack. He managed an embarrassed smile.

"Anyway," Frank said, clearly anxious to change the subject. "The museum is one place to search. But, uh, Jason, you said there were two?" Jason's smile faded.

"Yeah," He said. "The other place is called the Battery - it's a park right by the harbor. The last time I was there…with Reyna…" He glanced at Piper and then rushed on. "We saw something in the park. A ghost or some sort of spirit, like a Southern belle from the Civil War, glowing and floating along. We tried to approach it, but it disappeared whenever we got close. Then Reyna had this feeling - she said she should try it alone. Like maybe it would only talk to a girl. She went up to the spirit by herself, and sure enough, it spoke to her." Everyone waited.

"What did it say?" Annabeth asked.

"Reyna wouldn't tell me. But it must have been important. She seemed…shaken up. Maybe she got a prophecy or some bad news. Reyna never acted the same around me after that."

"A girl's adventure then," Annabeth said. "Piper and Hazel can come with me. Zy, you can choose your member."

"Emily," I said. "Audrey went the last couple times and Veon's no longer an option, so why not? I'll stay with Percy, Audrey, Coach and my brother."

"So that's settled." She turned to Leo, who was studying his console, listening to Festus creak and click over the intercom. "Leo, how long until we reach Charleston?"

"Good question," He muttered. "Festus just detected a large group of eagles behind us - long-range radar, still not in sight." Piper leaned over the console.

"Are you sure they're Roman?" Leo rolled his eyes.

"No, Pipes. It could be a random group of giant eagles flying in perfect formation. Of course they're Roman! I suppose we could turn the ship around and fight-"

"Which would be a very bad idea," Jason said. "And remove any doubt that we're enemies of Rome."

"Or I've got another idea," Leo said. "If we went straight to Charleston, we could be there in a few hours. But the eagles would overtake us, and things would get complicated.  _Instead_ , we could send out a decoy to trick the eagles. We take the ship on a detour, go the long way to Charleston, and get there tomorrow morning-" Hazel started to protest, but Leo raised his hand. "I know, I know. Nico's in trouble and we have to hurry."

"It's June 27th," Hazel said. "After today, four more days. Then he dies."

"I know! But this might throw the Romans off our trail. We still should have enough time to reach Rome." Hazel scowled.

"When you say  _should have enough_ …?" Leo shrugged.

"How do you feel about  _barely enough?_ " Hazel put her face in her hands for a count of three.

"Sounds typical for us."

"Okay, Leo," Emily said. "What kind of distraction are we talking about?"

"I'm so glad you asked!" He punched a few buttons on the console, rotated the turntable, and repeatedly pressed the A button on his Wii controller really, really fast. He called into the intercom, "Buford? Report for duty, please." Frank took a step back.

"There's somebody else on the ship? Who is Buford?" A puff of steam shot from the stairwell, and Leo's automatic table climbed on deck. Buford mostly stayed in the engine room, since Leo insisted that Buford had a secret crush on the engine. He was a three-legged table with a mahogany top. His bronze base had several drawers, spinning gears, and a set of steam vents. Buford was toting a bag like a mail sack tied to one of his legs. He clattered to the helm and made a sound like a train whistle.

"This is Buford," Leo announced.

"You name your furniture?" Frank asked. Leo snorted.

"Man, you just  _wish_  you had furniture this cool. Buford, are you ready for Operation End Table?" Buford spewed steam. He stepped to the railing. His mahogany top split into four pie slices, which elongated into wooden blades. The blades spun, and Buford took off.

"A helicopter table," Percy muttered. "Gotta admit, that's cool. What's in the bag?"

"Dirty demigod laundry," Leo said. "I hope you don't mind, Frank." Frank choked.

"What?"

"It'll throw the eagles off our scent."

"Those were my only extra pants!" Leo shrugged.

"I asked Buford to get them laundered and folded while he's out. Hopefully he will." He rubbed his hands and grinned. "Well! I call that a good day's work. I'm gonna calculate our detour route now. See you all at dinner!"

* * *

First Person: Emily

"So I've gathered this," I reported to Audrey. "Based on your last dream, I've gathered that there's someone, an enemy of Athena, waiting in Rome. If Annabeth follows the Mark of Athena, then she'll come across this statue, which is the giants' bane and the key to mending the rift between the Greeks and the Romans. After a Google search, I've gathered that Athena had three main enemies, at least according to this Yahoo post. It's repeated many times throughout the internet that Poseidon was her worst enemy because of their dispute in Athens, and the name Athens may or may not reveal who won that dispute. Arachne was another one of Athena's enemies because she bragged that she could weave better than Athena, so she challenged Arachne to a contest, which Athena won. Athena then changed Arachne into a spider, which is why it's called an arachnid. This is who I assume we're talking about. The prophecy says that this statue, the giants' bane, is  _won from pain from a woven jail_ , and since Arachne was a weaver, this makes the most logical sense."

"Who was the third one?"

"Oh, just Medusa. She has  _tons_  of other enemies, of course, from the Trojan War, for example. But anyway, I figure that what we can gather from the prophecy is that Annabeth must win this statue from some kind of woven jail. Whether that means she's going to have to  _make_  a woven jail for Arachne, or she has to  _escape_ a woven jail made by Arachne, the point stands. Both are logical challenges she'll have to face."

"Annabeth's going to go to Rome and face a giant spider woman?"

"If my guess is correct, yes."

"Any idea where the twins and Nico could be?"

"No. I'm still clueless as to what we can get Bacchus to help us too."

"We'll figure out something. The Diet Pepsi option is still on the table." The dinner bell rang.

"We're not allowed to tell Annabeth, are we?"

"I guess not. Rules are, we don't mention anything Zy doesn't want us to. Let her make the first move and  _then_  we'll know it's safe to talk about things. Besides, what are the odds Annabeth has pieced together most of this as well?"

"True."

At dinner, Kaze was bouncing around and singing what sounded like a Japanese version of Ring-Around-The-Rosie. When we finally got him to sit down (and by "we" I mean "Zy" since she seems to be the only one able to control him) he was tapping his foot and his finger impatiently, having wolfed down a couple sandwiches with his speed. The laws of physics said that he wasn't going to be aging with the rate that he went into what he called "speed-mode." Since the last meeting was more based on the aquarium story, our plans and where we were going (and because Kaze was a bit on edge) we decided to use dinner time to learn more about him. Kaze was more than happy to talk about himself, but since Japanese worked in Yoda-talk where verbs, nouns, etc. were switched around, Zy had to listen to everything Kaze said before translating.

"He says: 'I'm not sure  _how_  I got these powers. I didn't have them before back when I was with Onesan. I spent some time in the Underworld, but it's all pretty blurry. Like a dream. I remember that I was able to think clearly once I woke up, alive once more.'"

"What other powers do you have besides speed?" Annabeth asked, and Zy went to work translating. Kaze put his arms in his thinking position, tilting his head slightly to the right. He began talking and listing off some things.

"He says: 'I'm strong and athletic, good with a sword, I can sense curses and traps on locks and disarm them, I can mess with money and stocks, along with win a lot at casinos, I'm smart and persuasive, I like to make things, I'm an adept alchemist, I steal, I can open locks with my mind, and I can throw these to predict the future.'" Kaze pulled out four small, rectangular, brown runes with a Japanese symbol on each that were a bit smaller than dominos, but larger than those Pez candies. "'Well actually it's more like I can get an answer, yes or no. They usually tell me the right things, but you have to be very careful in your wording when you use them, and the only answers are yes, no, maybe, probably, or unlikely. For example, is Onesan older than me?'" Before Zy had finished translating, Kaze had tossed the four runes up into the air before catching them in his hands. He said something that I assumed was " _See?_ " based on the context of the situation, while he held them out to reveal they were all facing symbol-up.

"That's cool," Leo said. "Can you ask it whether I'll ever get a girlfriend?" Zy translated and Kaze shrugged before tossing the runes once more. When he caught them, only two of them were face-up, and the other two were face down.

"Maybe," Zy translated. "50% chance. Kaze says that's what the runes always say with it comes to questions like that. I take that to mean he's probably asked that question about himself." She asked something to Kaze and he shrugged. "He woke up with the runes in his pocket. He's not sure where he got them, but he figured out that they answer his questions. Of course, they're limited. He says they turn white when they run out of power, and they turn black when they're at full power." I did notice that they were now a light chocolate brown, a definite shade lighter than the dark brown from before.

"Think they could give us some information for the quest?" Annabeth asked.

"It depends on the questions you ask. Kaze says we have maybe two more charges out of the runes. Three if we're lucky."

"That's simple," Leo said. "We've just gotta ask if the map is in location one, yes or no, and then if it's in location two."

"But if it's in neither, we can't ask for a location since these are yes or no questions only," Jason pointed out. Kaze said something before tossing his runes. When he caught them, all of them were face-up.

"Well, we know the map is definitely in Charleston," Zy translated. "He asked if we're looking in the right places." Kaze said something else and then threw his runes, that once again, said yes. "We're going to find the map." He said something and threw the runes once more. They came up three positives and one negative, before the runes turned completely white and the symbols faded. Kaze said something to Zy and she turned her head in thought. "He says those three runes mean "sort of," as in, yes, but there's some kind of catch. He asked if we'd escape the Romans."

"That doesn't sound good," Frank said. "A catch can end up ruining everything."

"There's always a catch," Audrey muttered. "If there wasn't some kind of catch, I'd question everything I've ever known about life."

"But it  _does_  mean that we're going to escape the Romans," I said, looking on the bright side. "It  _was_  worded that way, right?" Zy nodded.

"He asked if we would all escape the Romans, those exact words."

"Still, we should be prepared for trouble," Piper said.

"That's a given anyway," Veon said. "In our lifestyles, you can't go  _anywhere_  without something attacking you, whether you're on a quest or not."

"We'll be alert for any attackers," Audrey promised.

"And I'll try to keep my brother from stealing half the ship," Zy said. Right on cue, Riptide suddenly popped up in front of Kaze, nearly impaling him in the face if he didn't have such fast reflexes. He examined it with an " _Ooo_ ," and tossed it from each hand, testing its weight. Percy slipped his hand in his pocket.

"How the heck-?!"

" _Onesan,_ " Kaze said before looking at her with a begging face and probably asking if he could keep it. Zy shook her head and pointed to Percy, telling him to give it back. After a moment of argument and Zy being firm, he sulked and passed it back to Percy. Zy reached into his jacket pockets despite his protests and threw Annabeth's New York Yankees cap, which had the ability to make her invisible, to her, and tossed my Dove of Aphrodite pin to me. She pulled out Audrey's necklace/dagger, Hazel's cavalry sword, Piper's dagger, Jason's gladius, Frank's bow  _and_  his quiver, and a phone, which she then returned to him since it actually belonged to him.

"That's everything from the ship," Zy reported. "Apparently he likes weapons. And shiny things in general. I'll get him his own sword and hope it sates his appetite. Do you think Hedge would mind if he stays in my room? Personally, I don't trust him anywhere else."

"You  _are_  technically brother and sister," Ve said. "It's not like with Annabeth and Percy, and such. I'm sure it'll be fine. Besides, it's not like we have a guest room, and your place is the largest one. No one else has the ability to control the kid. My vote is he stays with you 24/7." She clapped her hands together and stood.

"Right, then it's settled.  _Kaze-kun,_   _kuru_." She walked off and Kaze jumped to his feet.

" _Hai!_ " He said happily before rushing after her. He stopped at the exit of the mess hall to wave. " _Sayonara!_ " He rushed after his sister enthusiastically.

"He's energetic," Audrey commented.

"And pretty dangerous if he went rogue," Annabeth said.

"He's a kid," I said. "He's been dead for five years and he's just been reunited with his sister. He's not gonna do anything that makes his sister unhappy with him. I get this feeling that she's had to mother him ever since they met, so she should know how to rein him in. He doesn't mean any harm, that's just how he is as a son of Hermes."

"But he has had  _way_  too much caffeine," Leo said.

"I've never known a child of Hermes to have speed like that without Hermes's winged shoes," Percy said. "That combined with ADHD is a deadly combination."

"Any demigod power combined with ADHD is a deadly combination," Veon said. "I like the kid. He's the same as the other kids of Hermes back as Camp Half-Blood. They're troublesome, but amusing. If Zy keeps him from stealing our things and makes sure he focuses his effort more on annoying our enemies rather than us, we're Imperial golden."

"Even the Mercury kids at Camp Jupiter are known for being tricksters," Jason said. "But they're kept in line most of the time."

"Based on all the Roman punishments, I assume," Audrey guessed. "Discipline is good, but sometimes just letting the Hermes kids loose on your enemies is kinda fun. During capture the flag, you'd be surprised what tricks those kids have up their sleeves sometimes. I think they have things from all of the other cabins stored in theirs, including some deadly weapons from the Hephaestus cabin."

"Hermes  _is_  an inventor only second to Hephaestus," Veon said. "He invented the lyre for Apollo as compensation for stealing Apollo's cattle when he was a toddler. If this kid has so much power from his dad, he might be a useful addition to the team."

"I do wonder if his finding us was really some coincidence," Annabeth said. "It feels a little too perfect."

"If we keep Zy with him at all times, she should be able to watch over him."

"We'll  _all_  watch over him," I said. "For now we just see where this leads. I sense he's a nice kid who loves his big sister and would do anything for her. He's got a good heart."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm turning in," Ve said. "Night."


	17. Kaze's Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of fluff, but I'm trying to make it so that this isn't all just the regular story with small changes. If you like my storyline, review! If you don't…you do you, my friends.

First Person: Kaze

"Onesan, how long have you been sleeping in a bed?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"How long have you been…living normally?"

"Since a little after you died," She admitted. "It wasn't easy or fun, and I missed you a lot." She dropped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. "I was alone for a year, but then I met Veon-san. Demigods in the U.S. aren't hunted down or imprisoned. They're able to stay hidden at camps or some can even keep hidden on their own. Most of the gods live in the U.S. now, and Mount Olympus is at the top of the Empire State Building in New York." I sat down on the bed near her feet.

"So does that mean our parents protect us here?"

"Well…no. The gods aren't allowed to interact with their children by law, no matter how much they want to, and many do want to. Your dad cares for his children, Ototo, he really does." I hummed in acknowledgment but didn't say anything. My dad had left me and my sister, my  _real_  sister, alone in the world after we were born. Our mother died giving birth to me, and my big sister couldn't raise me alone on the streets. She died begging for Hermes to help, but he didn't come. He abandoned us when we needed him, and I've never actually met him in real life. I've told Onesan about it, and she says she never met her mother, grandfathers, or any other god whether she was related or not. She didn't believe in gods, and one took away any life we had together…

"Here." I was snapped out of my thoughts by a silver point being shoved in front of my face. I looked up to see Onesan holding a large shuriken. "I got this thing but haven't used it much. I've made some modifications to it as well." She pulled it back and flicked it so that the four blades retracted into a cylinder hilt. She passed it to me and I examined it.

"How does it work?"

"Point and think. Connect with your weapon. The more you use it, the easier it will be to work with it." I pointed it forward and the first blade popped out. It was about three feet long, so it would work nicely as a sword. I turned the sword to the side and the blade opposite of the first came out. It was weighted really nicely. I flicked the weapon and the two perpendicular blades came out. I twisted the weapon. It was heavy, but it worked with my strength. If a weapon was too light for me, I tended to drop it or break it.

"Thank you, Onesan."

"Here, try this." She pulled the shuriken and it came apart into two boomerangs. The motioned for me to grab the grip of them and then she pulled them into four separate swords.

" _Cool~_ "

"Promise not to take any more weapons from the others?" I sighed.

"Promise…"

"Don't look so down." She snapped her two sword halves together. I did the same with mine and then she took them and snapped them into the four-bladed shuriken. She sheathed the blades and handed me the cylinder. "You've got your own weapon now. It works as a single sword, two swords, a double bladed one, or  _two_  double bladed ones, boomerangs, and a shuriken. All you have to do is focus and the blades will shrink to dagger size as well. I've infused it with some energy to work with your speed as well, so you can put it in speed-mode with you even if you throw it. I use guns and a sword for long and short range."

"What about your bow?" I nodded to the five-foot longbow leaning against her nightstand with a quiver beside it. The weapon looked pretty new. The shaft was gray but sparkling with gems of all different colors, and its frame resembled Kikyo's bow from Inuyasha. The bowstring looked to be made out of metal or something, but I wasn't the bow expert that Onesan was. The shaft was straight until it reached the limbs of the bow where the transition was sharp, meaning she could swing the bow like a sword for close range enemies. The riser of the bow was just some wrapped cloth at the center of the bow shaft where it would be held and where the arrow would rest. Any amateur, and many experts, would have trouble holding the arrow steady with no arrow rest or sights like modern recurves and compounds have, but Onesan held arrows so steady and was such a perfect shot, you'd think she was cheating. Onesan always said that she preferred a simpler longbow rather than a recurve or a compound, and the longbow was one of the hardest to aim and master, yet she used it effortlessly.

"I don't use a bow very often," She admitted.

"Why?" Onesan usually used nothing  _but_  a bow. She made her own bow after we escaped from the "orphanage" and never used anything else. When I snapped her bowstring and nearly killed myself, well she fixed me first (obviously; she's not  _that_  obsessed with her bow), but then worked for days to fix the bowstring so it was to her liking. I don't think she ate or slept until she fixed that thing, and she refused to take up any other weapon meanwhile, consequently making  _me_  have to handle the hunting, and without a long range weapon or the ability to throw straight for the life of me, I couldn't kill  _anything_. I managed to take some vines, sticks, leaves and my ingenuity to make a trap, but still. I was a freaking seven-year-old trying to catch a wild animal to eat. What were we talking about again? Oh right, Onesan isn't using a bow.

"I just don't," She said dismissively.

"But you love using a bow. You educated me on nearly every part of a bow, and taught me how to identify a proper bow from a mile away! I tried not to listen, but I can still tell you that the bow right there is perfect for you for at least five reasons. Not to mention the arrows."

"Kaze-kun, I'm cursed so that I can't use a bow. If I even touch that thing, my hand will spasm out and this shock goes through me that causes me to tense up and shouts "NO!" I can't use the thing. I haven't been able to use any bow since your death."

"Well, why do you have that? The bow is obviously new."

"Veon-san gave it to me for my birthday. He doesn't know about my curse."

"Well, we can break it, right? There's got to be some way to fix this. Maybe there's some place we can go for a cure or some condition we need to meet. Do you know if there's something like that?" She sat on her bed and stared at her hands.

"No," She said quietly. "I don't think there's a way to fix it. I've survived, Ototo, I'll be fine."

"No! You're going to use a bow again, Onesan, I promise. Who cursed you? Maybe we could convince them to change their mind or…or I'll take some curse in return-!"

"Kaze-kun, no," She said firmly. "I won't have you suffering or getting hurt. Not again. Not for my sake or anybody else's."

"But Rei-chan!"

"No!"

"Who did it? At least tell me that!"

"Styx! Goddess of the Underworld's most important river?! The most powerful of all water nymphs?! Eldest daughter of the sea Titan Oceanus?! Goddess of hatred?! I swore something upon her river, and I think you can figure out the rest from there!"

"But…wouldn't she kill you if you broke an oath?"

"There are a lot worse things out there than death."

"Like what?"

"Like living." I saw that just past her on her nightstand was a switchblade knife, the one that I'd gotten her for a birthday once. I'd left early in the morning before she'd woken up to go steal the thing from a hunting shop. When it got back, she was furious. She said that I could've gotten caught or died and she never would have known, not until it was too late. She told me that was how her father died, leaving to surprise her with a present, but never returning. After that, I swore never to leave her side, and if I did, I would always tell her and have her consent. The blade was practically bathed in blood. She saw where my eyes were, and snatched up the knife.

"Go to sleep, Kaze-kun." She walked into the bathroom and I heard the water from the sink running before she shut the door. The doors must've been sound-proof since I couldn't hear anything through the walls. What had happened to Onesan while I was gone? What had that goddess made her do, what had she done to my sister? I was going to protect her, I vowed, I wasn't going to let my sister suffer anymore. I just needed to convince her to leave with me. If we left all of this behind, mother promised we'd be left in peace, away from the gods and away from this war or whatever. I didn't need anyone but my sister with me, and I needed to get her away from all this danger. I guess she does have a nice boyfriend, and she might not want to leave him. If he checks out, I  _may_  let him come with us too.

Slipping my hand into the outer pocket of my hoodie, I pulled out my four runes. They had gained a bit of color back, meaning I had one charge out of them, maybe two depending on the question I asked. Mentally asking it a question, I tossed the runes into the air. When I caught the runes, I prayed they'd come up positive.  _Will my sister be safe?_  I opened my hand. Three runes negative, one rune positive. My heart sank. Those three runes meant no, but there's a catch. I had enough for one more question, so I tossed them a final time for the night.  _Can I help my sister?_  Two runes positive, two runes negative.

* * *

First Person: Lucy

I quickly cleaned the knife I had forgotten to wash off earlier. Once I was done, I flipped the blade to be sheathed in the hilt. I didn't want to argue with my brother, and I didn't want to lie to him. He's alive. I should be euphoric, I should be able to touch my bow again. But I hadn't made up for what I did. Sure, he's alive, but that doesn't mean I still don't deserve punishment for what happened. What can I do? How can I make up for betraying the trust he put it me? I turned on him despite everything we'd ever had, I threw him to the wolves, and there's no way I can just give him a hug and say "sorry." He forgives me, but that's because he thinks the goddess forced me into what I did, didn't give me a choice. I thought I was going to save someone, but in the end all I did was hurt him both emotionally and physically and then I killed him with no justification. There's no way I can make up for that, at least none that I can think of.

When I came back out of the bathroom, I set the knife onto my nightstand. Kaze was lying on my bed, having finally changed into the pajamas I loaned him. He was still in his hoodie, and I assumed he wasn't ever going to take that thing off. He was facing the wall and huddled on the far side of the bed, away from me. I touched his wrist and checked to see if he was asleep before tossing the covers over him. I removed my jacket and replaced the bandages on my right arm, wrapping bandages around my left arm so that he wouldn't see the scars from the injections, and so that it would just look like some fashion trend rather than an actual injury. I didn't know whether it would fool him or not, but it was worth a shot.

I snuck under the covers and snapped the light in the room to go from dim to completely off. Sleep came to me pretty easy, but just as I swore I was going to fall asleep, I felt Kaze wrap his arms around me protectively. He was still slightly shorter than me, and his head slipped into the crook of my neck like I was the one shielding him, but I felt his grip around me firm, as though he was willing to take on the world for me. I didn't want him to put himself in harm's way. He thought he was invincible, immortal, but even the gods can be destroyed. How would he feel if he learned what I had to do?

The goddess wasn't to blame for this. She wasn't doing this only for herself; she was doing this for everyone, good or evil, so that they could have the chance to live. She wasn't evil. She wasn't forcing me. I chose this path, and I chose to do what I've done, whether I hated it or not. That's why I can never be forgiven. I will live this life, I will do what needs to be done and take the punishment so that others don't have to. I'm willing to hold that burden. Somehow, I'd have to make my brother understand that, yes, I'm suffering, I'm unhappy, but I chose to do it. There's always going to be pain out there in the world, and if I can take away even one person's suffering in return for having it myself, I'd take it.

Maybe  _that_  was my fatal flaw, something that would one day lead to my demise. I would take pain in place of others. I didn't believe there was any value in my life, that I was expendable if it meant others could live in my place. That I don't believe I'm worth anything. Even knowing that, it doesn't change how I feel. I'm going to go forward, and I'll go through with what I must in order to help people. Yet now I did feel hesitant. My brother would be unhappy with it. He'd try and stop me, I know it. And Audrey and Emily would protest if they knew the truth. They'd be unhappy, and the pain wouldn't all be on me anymore. To go forward, I'd have to go against my brother's wishes once more.

It brought up the concern of why Kaze was allowed to live when Thanatos was released. He hadn't been killed just recently while Death was out of commission; he was killed  _years_  ago. Maybe Gaea granted him life in order to mess with me and my heart, make me hesitate and falter. Kaze  _did_  talk about a step-mother who'd planted the thought in his head that my friends were forcing me into things. I'd show them they weren't a threat, and that Gaea was the real evil. His belief in her must be similar to the demigods in the Titan war with Luke Castellan. He felt abandoned by Hermes and the gods, even though his dad really did care for him.

I'd done some digging once I'd gotten my new powers from the goddess and got the story from Hermes. It turns out that his mother was a teenager when she'd met Hermes, an orphan on the streets like us. She handled things pretty well on her own, and caught Hermes's attention while she was causing trouble at a restaurant. She didn't like rich people because of her lifestyle, so she got revenge through her own inventions to crash rich-people's parties and events. He met her when she was nearly caught and cornered at the roof. She threatened him and demanded he help her (because that's how all passionate relationships begin, obviously) and when she tried to throw a home-made bomb at him, it naturally didn't work.

Hermes revealed he was a god, but she didn't believe him. Being the prideful guy he was, he proved it by helping her escape. She was stubborn and didn't thank him, so he followed her around and became an annoyance to her. He finally learned that she was a legacy of Hephaestus (a daughter of a half-blood and a human), and that's why she could see through the mist and see him in turn, though she didn't believe that either. Long story short, they grew close and she started believing him about all the godly things, though she still didn't take him very seriously. He still did his job as messenger of the gods and such, but he always came back to visit her since he found her interesting. Beautiful love story, etc., but then things went wrong like they do.

Hermes got found out that he was interfering in a demigod's life, even if she  _was_  only a quarter god, and was warned to leave her alone or else he'd face punishment. He told her it was nothing and that he wasn't worried about his father's punishments (even though it was totally a lie) but still left her alone with a child. Unable to properly support herself while she was pregnant, she had to turn herself in so that she could be given proper nutrients and healthy living conditions. Hermes told me he watched over her even though he couldn't see her in person, and he knew she was praying for him to come back. She believed that maybe if she chose to have her child, that maybe he'd come back to her.

She survived Kaze's birth, but when Hermes still didn't come back, she began to realize that he'd left her all alone to raise a child when she herself was still one as well. She left the hospital that she'd been living in for the past couple months and went back to being in the streets, raising Kaze and telling him she was his older sister, lamenting to Kaze about all her anger towards Hermes. He was young, considering he'd come to that "orphanage" at around three years old, but he still remembered some of what she'd told him. She, being a demigod, was still attacked by monsters, something she hadn't considered since being only a quarter god lessened her attack rate before she had Kaze.

By the time Kaze could walk, he understood two things clearly: his father had abandoned him and his "sister" and didn't care about them, and there was no mercy in the world, you had to learn to survive, or you die, because there's no one out there who's going to help you. At first, he still held hope in his heart that there was  _something_  out there helping them, or they wouldn't still be alive. Then his mother died begging for Hermes to help, but he couldn't. Kaze didn't know that, and neither did his mother. As far as they were concerned, he'd abandoned them. That's when Kaze started to believe her words. He grew up not believing in anyone or anything, including his father.

So Kaze probably believes things that Gaea tells him because she's convinced him that the gods will get what they deserve or some such. I gripped him just as protectively as he was holding me. There had to be a way to convince Kaze that his father cared. Currently, Hermes and Mercury were probably in their schizophrenic state and were in no condition to have a heart-to-heart with his (their?) son. But I wasn't going to let my brother try and take down the gods and work for Dirt Face. I just need to find out if he has any plans here and convince him his father cares, and that  _Gaea_  is the real enemy. Not exactly an easy task when the majority of the gods are jerks. But I was going to protect my little brother no matter what. Maybe if I could keep him alive and make sure his second chance in this world was used to save it, then maybe I could make up for what I did. Maybe.


	18. Confusing Dreams and Aphrodite

First Person: Zytaveon

I don't know what was going on anymore. I knew I was afraid. I knew I was in pain both physically and mentally. I couldn't remember how I got here. I don't remember what I'm supposed to be doing, where I'm going, or how to make it stop.

I stood in my father's throne room. The king sat upon his chair above me, looking very displeased. I was in trouble, wasn't I? What was I in trouble for again? Whatever it was, father was  _not_  pleased. I'd never seen him so furious at me, as I had always been careful to mind my tongue and made sure not to embarrass him when he introduced me to the other gods and such. What had I done? I know I did  _something_ , but my mind was too clouded to remember exactly what.

" _You are found guilty of their murder._ " Murder? Whose murder? First person that came to mind was…Nico? Why? I don't know. My mind was so foggy. This world seemed to be working with my mind to make my thoughts true. It was scrambling my brain, taking thoughts that were just guesses and turning them into reality. " _You let him die. You took the information from his mind and continued on your quest without him._ "

" _No…I…didn't want to…_ "

" _But you did. You left him to die._ "

" _No! I promised him I would come! Zy…she promised she do_ everything _in her power to save him._ "

" _She is dead. You brought all your friends to their doom._ " Hades waved his hand and an image of Tartarus appeared before me. We were at the Doors of Death, the seven of the prophecy as well as Zy's team and Kaze. We were all there, except I wasn't in the picture. Then, there was a dark figure hovering in the air. It looked like a dark mass of black smoke in a humanoid shape, but there were faces appearing every now and then, and numerous screams. Those were lost souls, I realized. The figure began to become more clear, and I saw…me?

The next thing I knew, I  _was_  that person. I swung my hand and felt the life being sucked out of the demigods. The monsters surrounding them took that to their advantage. The demigods were all rounded up, surrounded by the monsters, and weakened, all breathing heavily, bleeding in many places. I'm not sure if I was controlling my body, but I knew that I flew down to the ground and the monsters parted for me.

" ** _So here you are,_** " I said, though my voice was overlapped with one much deeper. It seemed to boom with power, menacing power that sent a chill through anyone that heard it.

" _Veon…_ " Emily began cautiously.

" ** _So nice to see you all here. It was much easier than I expected to lure you all to your doom. Gaea's been trying ever so hard, but she lacks the full understanding of your souls. I, on the other hand…_** " I pointed to Jason and he suddenly began screaming, dropping his sword and holding his head.

" _No…! Stop it…! NO!_ "

" ** _I know exactly how to destroy your hearts and souls from the inside out._** "

" _Jason!_ " Piper shouted. " _What have you done?!_ "

" ** _See for yourself._** " I pointed to her and she dropped her dagger to hold her head as she fell to her knees screaming. The others all let out grunts of anger and worry, trying to decide whether they should help their friends or try and attack me, but they knew both weren't an option. I sighed. " ** _Well, I understand that dragging this out would be so much more fun, but if you monologue too long, you end up having those you leave alive retaliating. I'm smart enough to have figured_** **that** ** _out by now. So, let's just move on, shall we?_** " I snapped my fingers and the rest of the seven suffered the same fate as Jason and Piper, all breaking out into a chorus of screams as their minds were assaulted from the inside out with their worst fears. Their brains were literally melting at the seams.

" _Veon, stop it!_ " Emily ordered. I turned to her, unimpressed.

" ** _Oh, why would I do that? The boy you once you once knew is long gone. He's become a part of me like oh so many. His darkness is so delicious, and it was so easy to break him. Now you will all join me as well, and we can be one, big, happy, family._** " I walked forward and summoned a pure dark sword at least six feet long, sleek, lightweight, and powerful. It was serrated to make sure it would be extra painful if one wanted to remove it, and it had the ability to trap one's soul in eternal pain within it if they were killed by it. I walked up easily to the group, and my former team, who were the only ones able to still stand, wisely edged back. Smiling, I stabbed Annabeth first.

" ** _I always found that one annoying. Thinking she was_** **so** ** _smart. Dumb blond._** " I removed my sword and her body slumped to the ground, a black mist leaving her body from the wound and absorbing into the sword. " ** _Speaking of annoying, next up is the imp._** " I stabbed Leo unceremoniously and the others watched helpless. It was so delicious. " ** _Can't take_** **anything** ** _seriously. Never shuts his mouth, never does anything useful. And_** **this** ** _one._** " I slashed Jason across the torso like I was barely paying attention. " ** _Such a hero, isn't he? Thinks he_** **always** ** _knows what's best, no matter what others think. Blond Superman over here thinks he's as high and mighty as his father. His father's not much different. I plan to make his death painful as well._** " I sliced Piper. " ** _Beauty queen. Talks and talks, like everything she says is law. Such a nervous wreck. Worthless._** " Percy. " ** _Waterboy. Such a hero, doing all of this and that for his friends. Bleh. He's not much of a hero. All he ever does is be at the right place at the wrong time and get lucky before taking all the credit._** " Hazel. " ** _Death girl. Shouldn't be alive. Loyal to no one but herself, but she doesn't even have confidence in_** **that** ** _._** " I walked over to Hazel and pulled something out of her pocket before revealing Frank's little nub of firewood. " ** _Weakling._** " I blew on it and it set ablaze. I spread the ashes onto my sword, and then everyone's soul was collected.

" _What do we do?_ " Audrey asked.

" ** _You die._** " I charged and swung my sword. Emily tried to get in the way, but the moment my sword touched her, she disappeared, her entire soul and body itself absorbed. I swung at Audrey and she barely blocked with her sword. I struck again and she backed up from the force put on her. Kaze came in at speed with a punch, but I caught his wrist, forcing him to a brutal stop and crushing it. Kaze shouted many things in Japanese, but I slashed him down and tossed his body away, before swinging at Audrey again. She blocked, but I moved with more speed than ever and kicked her feet out from under her, and without hesitation, impaled her so that she was pinned to the ground. Once her soul was absorbed, I turned to the final person left standing.

" _Zytaveon?_ " She asked, though there wasn't any fear in her voice.

" ** _Something you wanna say to him? That you_** **love** ** _him and want him to try and_** **fight** ** _me?_** "

" _No. I wanna say I'm sorry._ " Sorry. Always sorry. No matter what dream or nightmare, no matter where, no matter when, she was always sorry. She smiled to me sweetly, as though she wasn't walking to her doom and was just meeting me for a date. She spread her arms, maybe to invite attack, maybe to ask for a hug. Her face was so calm, even cheery, as though what was happening around us wasn't real.

" ** _Why?_** " I asked, and it wasn't this being that was controlling my body. It was me. Asking why every time she was so sorry, why I saw her in every dream unafraid of her death.

" _Because,_ " She said, blinking tears away while still smiling. " _Can't you see? I welcome death. I've had to suffer through so much in my life, and I keep going for reasons even I don't understand. And I have to keep going forward, loosing myself piece by piece. I've long since died, and anything you do will be a mercy. I wanted to…I want to just…live somewhere…with you. Just…at Camp Half-Blood maybe. Going out on a quest here and there, but without this weight on my shoulders. I've always taken pain if it meant someone else won't have to suffer, but…sometimes I get tired. Kill me if you will. It doesn't matter either way. If I win, I win. If I lose, you lose._ " She smiled in a knowing way, as though we shared a secret between us. She looked down, and her smile seemed to fall into a more reminiscent or sad mood. " _Of course, Zytaveon shall suffer as well, and I can only pray he will be able to survive what I know is coming. He will be torn apart, but he must be strong. I know he's a good person, and I know he has a strong soul._ " She looked up and crossed her arms with a scolding look.

" _And if you could do a dead girl a favor, I'd_ would  _like to say I love him, thank you very much! And he_ should  _fight you, whether its cheesy or hopeless and all_ _that stuff!_ " She stomped her foot firmly. " _I fell in love with him from the moment I met him in the back of that classroom and we sat for_ months  _not talking to each other! I like it when he broods because it's cute! I like it that he wears all dark colors and that he smells like darkness and death, and yes, that_ is  _extremely weird because to others he probably smells like a rotting corpse!_ "

" ** _Ouch,_** " I muttered.

" _I like it when he worries over my opinion of him, and no, that is_ not _egotistical, it just means he looks cute when he does so! I like it when he wraps his arms around me and puts his head in the crook of my neck! I like it when he's shy around me because I know he cares enough to be afraid of screwing up with me! I like kissing him because he has really soft and_ very _addictive lips! Not to mention he is somehow a_ very _good kisser! And YES! I am willing to admit that while we are currently in a dream and this is all a figment of your imagination that I think you look really hot without a shirt on during training! Now for fuck's sake, wake up!_ " She slapped me and I suddenly jolted awake in my bedroom on the Argo II.

That was certainly on my list of the scariest and  _weirdest_  nightmares in existence. I dragged myself out of bed, trying really hard not to think of the dream, from the scary parts to the embarrassing parts. Nico was still alive; we'd get to him in time. And that scene at the Doors of Death…that wasn't what I thought of the team. They were really nice and really strong in their own ways, and though they had their flaws, they were good people trying to do the right thing. It was odd how I had nothing to say about my team, my closest friends. These nightmares were confusing to say the least, but they were, for sure, nightmares and they were hurting my head. I'd have to ask Zy about it, and take up that offer for sleeping drought.

I quickly got ready for the day. Curiosity got the best of me and I headed to Zy's room where I found her brushing her teeth while simultaneously trying to drag Kaze out of bed. Her words were a bit distorted thanks to the toothbrush in her mouth, but she one-handedly pulled the covers off of Kaze and he fell on the floor with a grunt, complaining about the hour.

" _I know,_ " She said. " _But it's time to get up. Get dressed and brush your teeth._ " Kaze grumbled, but tiredly made his way to the bathroom.

"Have a nice night?" I asked her.

"Fine," She said, switching her toothbrush to her other hand. "Kaze is a bed-hog though. I woke up half-way through the night and he'd taken all the covers. Apparently my bedroom is too cold for his liking. Excuse me if I have a higher average body temperature than normal people. Give me a moment." She walked into the bathroom and I heard her spitting and rinsing her mouth. She scolded Kaze on not brushing his teeth, and when I heard him grumbling and doing so, she came back out. "So, what's up?"

"I had a nightmare last night, and you were talking to me about stuff. I was wondering if you remembered anything you said."

"No, I slept dreamless last night. Must've been you. Was it a nightmare? Did I say bad things to you?"

"You said I smell like a rotting corpse."

"Ouch."

"That's what I said."

"Well don't listen to dreams like that. Remember what I said before. Don't let those things get to you. Your enemies are trying to break you by using fear and doubt to invade your soul and shatter it. And for your information, you smell very nice. Kaze, don't drink that!" She rushed into the bathroom and grabbed the mouthwash from him, explaining that you swish it in your mouth and spit it out. "I swear, it's like I'm dealing with a toddler. Anyway, what were we talking about?"

"Oh, nothing. See you later."

* * *

First Person: Emily

Leo docked the ship at a pier in Charleston Harbor, right next to the seawall. Along the shore was a historical district with tall mansions, palm trees, and wrought-iron fences, along with some antique cannons pointed at the water. Jason, Frank, Leo and Veon had shadow travelled to the museum already, and according to Hedge, they'd promised to be back by sunset. Piper and Hazel were ready to go, but Annabeth went to Percy who was leaning on the starboard rail, gazing over the bay.

"What are you gonna do while we're gone?" Annabeth asked.

"Jump into the harbor," He said casually, like another kid might say, "I'm going to get a snack."

"We're going to try and communicate with the local Nereids," Audrey said, walking up. "Maybe they can give us some advice about how to free those captives in Atlanta."

"Besides, it might be good for us," Percy said. "Being in that aquarium made me feel…unclean." Audrey nodded grimly in agreement. Annabeth kissed him.

"Good luck, Seaweed Brain. Just come back to me, okay?"

"I will," He promised. "You do the same."

"So what are you guys gonna do?" I asked Zy and Kaze.

"I think I'm gonna spar with my little bro; see if he's still in top form."

"Can you keep up with his speed?"

"I'll manage. Besides, a challenge keeps you in shape. He's dying for a fight, so I might as well try and please him. Plus, we'll be ready for an attack. We'll hold down the fort."

" _Onesan~!_ " Kaze begged, tugging on her arm impatiently.

"Gotta go. See you all later."

We had a pretty nice time walking along the Battery. According to the signs, the seaside park was called White Point Gardens. The ocean breeze swept away the muggy heat of the summer afternoon, and it was pleasingly cool under the shade of the palmetto trees. Lining the road were old Civil War cannons and bronze statues of historical figures, which reminded me of that story Annabeth told me about the Titan War where the statues in New York had come to life thanks to Daedalus's command sequence 23. Charleston Harbor glittered in the sun. To the north and south, strips of land stretched out like arms enclosing the bay, and sitting in the mouth of the harbor, about a mile out, was an island with a stone fort. I think it was important in the Civil War, but I didn't think too much about it.

We turned away from the seawall and explored the inland side of the gardens. The park wasn't crowded, and I imagined that most of the locals had gone on summer vacation, or were holed up at home taking a siesta. We strolled along South Battery Street, which was lined with four-story Colonial mansions. The brick walls were blanketed with ivy, the facades had soaring white columns like Roman temples, and the front gardens were bursting with rosebushes, honeysuckle, and flowering bougainvillea. It look like Demeter had set the timer on all the plants to  _grow_  several decades ago, then forgotten to come back and check on them.

"Kinda reminds me of New Rome," Hazel said. "All the big mansions and the gardens. The columns and arches." I remembered reading something about how the American South had often compared itself to Rome back before the Civil War. In the old days, their society had been all about impressive architecture, honor, and codes of chivalry. And on the evil side, it had also been about slavery. " _Rome had slaves,_ " Some Southerners had argued. " _Why shouldn't we?_ " The houses and gardens were beautiful, very Roman, but I wondered why beautiful things had to be wrapped up with evil history. Or was it the other way around? Maybe the evil history made it necessary to build beautiful things, to mask the darker aspects.

Piper kept looking around, as though she expected an ambush. She  _had_  said she'd seen this park in the blade of her knife, along with a woman in an old-fashion Southern belle dress. It seemed harmless enough, but things she saw in that knife rarely ever led to good things. Just last time, it led to Percy and Jason almost killing each other in Kansas. Hazel also seemed preoccupied. She may have been taking in her surroundings, but I could sense her worry over Nico as well. Both Veon and Hazel were worrying their heads off for Nico, but it wasn't just them. Veon and Annabeth had told me some things about Nico. Nico had gone through a lot in his past, from when he'd been rescued with his sister Bianca from that military academy in Maine, to loosing Bianca, his only family at the time, and becoming a homeless orphan, drifting through the world alone. Even though I barely knew him, I felt like he was  _my_  brother, not Veon's, and I would do anything to help him.

"There," Piper said, pointing across the harbor. A hundred yards out, a shimmering white figure floated on the water. It was definitely glowing, and it was moving more smoothly than a boat, making a straight line toward us. As it got closer, I could tell it was the figure of a woman.

"The ghost?" Annabeth asked.

"That's not a ghost," Hazel said. "No kind of spirit glows that brightly." As if in a trance, Piper walked across the street toward the edge of the seawall, narrowly avoiding a horse-drawn carriage.

"Piper!" Annabeth called.

"We'd better follow her," I said. By the time we'd caught up with her, the ghostly apparition was only a few yards away and I could see her clearer. "Hey, is that-?" Piper glared at her like the sight offended her.

"It  _is_  her," She grumbled. The apparition floated up the seawall and stopped in front of us. The glow faded, and Annabeth gasped. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful, and strangely familiar. Her features seemed to shift from those of one glamorous movie star to another. Her eyes sparkled playfully - sometimes green or blue or amber. Her hair changed from long, straight, blond to dark chocolaty curls. The woman was dressed like a Southern belle, as Jason and Piper had described. Her gown had a low-cut bodice of pink silk and a three-tiered hoop skirt with white scalloped lace. She wore tall white silk gloves, and held a feathered pink-and-white fan to her chest. Everything about her seemed to make the rest of us feel inadequate: the easy grace with white she wore her dress, the perfect yet understated makeup, the way she radiated feminine charm that no man could possibly resist. Of course I felt fine compared to her, more like a you do you kinda thing, and I was fine the way I was, but I could sense she was built to make others jealous, her face seeming to become more and more beautiful and constantly shifting by the second.

"Aphrodite," Annabeth realized.

"Venus?" Hazel asked in amazement.

"Mom," Piper and I said, Piper without enthusiasm and me with much enthusiasm.

"Girls!" The goddess spread her arms like she wanted a group hug. Apparently I was the only one who obliged, as Hazel backed into a palmetto tree. "I'm so glad you're here," Aphrodite said. "War is coming. Bloodshed is inevitable. So there's really only one thing to do."

"Uh…and that is?" Annabeth ventured.

"Why, have tea and chat, obviously. Come with me!" She led us to the central pavilion in the gardens - a white-pillared gazebo, where a table was set with silverware, china cups, and of course a steaming pot of tea, the fragrance shifting as easily as Aphrodite's appearance - sometimes cinnamon, or jasmine, or mint. There were plates of scones, cookies, and muffins, fresh butter and jam - all of which must've been incredibly fattening (unless, of course, you were the immortal goddess of love). Aphrodite sat - or held court, rather - in a wicker peacock chair. She poured tea and served cakes without getting a speck on her clothes, her posture always perfect, her smile dazzling.

Annabeth seemed to hate her more and more the longer we sat. They do say that hatred and jealously are born from beauty and love. I kept a cheery mood and encouraged the others to lighten up as well. We should be ready for an attack and such, but hey, if Aphrodite was able to be here without her schizophrenic state, then she must be here to give us some advice and such, right? Might as well enjoy the peace while it lasted.

"Oh, my sweet girls," The goddess said. "I do love Charleston! The weddings I've attended in this gazebo - they bring tears to my eyes. And the elegant balls in the days of the Old South. Ah, they were lovely. Many of these mansions still have statues of me in their gardens, though they call me Venus."

"Which are you?" Annabeth asked. "Venus or Aphrodite?" The goddess sipped her tea, and her eyes sparkled mischievously.

"Annabeth Chase, you've grown into quite a beautiful young lady. You really should do something with your clothes, though. And Hazel Levesque, your clothes-"

"My clothes?" Hazel looked down at her rumpled denim, not self-consciously, but baffled, as if she couldn't imagine what was wrong with them.

"Mother!" Piper said. "Your embarrassing me."

"Well I don't see why," The goddess said. "Just because  _you_  don't appreciate my fashion tips, Piper, doesn't mean the others won't. I could do a quick makeover for Annabeth and Hazel, perhaps silk ball gowns like mine-"

"Mother, I think we're good," I said.

"Fine," Aphrodite sighed. "To answer your question, Annabeth, I am  _both_  Aphrodite and Venus. Unlike many of my fellow Olympians, I changed hardly at all from one age to the other. In fact, I like to think I haven't aged a bit!" Her fingers fluttered around her face appreciatively. "Love is love, after all, whether you're Greek or Roman. This civil war won't affect me as much as it will the others." So far the gods unaffected by the Greek-Roman schism seemed to be Aphrodite, Nemesis, and Dionysus. Love, revenge, wine. Well okay then. Hazel nibbled on a sugar cookie.

"We're not at war yet, my lady."

"Oh, dear Hazel." Aphrodite folded her fan. "Such optimism, yet you have heartrending days ahead of you. Of  _course_  war is coming. Love and war always go together. They are the peaks of human emotion! Evil and good, beauty and ugliness." Hazel set down her sugar cookie. She had a few crumbs on her chin, though she didn't seem to know or care.

"What do you mean?" Hazel asked. "Heartrending days?" The goddess laughed as if Hazel were a cute puppy.

"Well, Annabeth could give you some idea. I once promised to make  _her_  love life interesting. And didn't I?" Annabeth looked ready to snap the handle off her teacup. For years, her heart had been torn. First there was Luke Castellan, her first crush, who had seen her only as a little sister; then he'd turned evil and decided he liked her - right before he died. Next came Percy, who was infuriating but sweet, yet he had seemed to be falling for another girl named Rachel, and then  _he_  almost died, several times. Finally Annabeth had gotten Percy to herself, only to have him vanish for six months and lose his memory. You had to admit that her love life had been complicated, though I had seen worse before.

"Interesting is a mild way of putting it," Annabeth said, reining in her anger.

"Well, I can't take credit for  _all_  your troubles," The goddess said. "But I do love twists and turns in a love story. Oh, all of you are such excellent stories - I mean, girls. A shame Lucy couldn't be here with us. I think she's one of my favorite in eons. You all do me proud!"

"Mother," Piper said. "Is there a reason you're here?"

"Hm? Oh, you mean besides the tea? I often come here. I love the view, the food, the atmosphere - you can just smell the romance and heartbreak in the air, can't you? Centuries of it." She pointed to a nearby mansion. "Do you see that rooftop balcony? We had a party there the night the American Civil War began. The shelling of Fort Sumter."

"That's it," Annabeth muttered. "The island in the harbor. That's where the first fighting of the Civil War happened. The Confederates shelled the Union troops and took the fort."

"Oh, such a party!" Aphrodite said. "A string quartet, and all the men in their elegant new officers' uniforms. The women's dresses - you should've seen them! I danced with Ares - or was he Mars? I'm afraid I was a little giddy. And the beautiful bursts of light across the harbor, the roar of the cannons giving the men an excuse to put their arms around their frightened sweethearts! Except for Order, of course. I think she was a  _he_  back then, Angel, but he and his husband loved ruining things. They always seem to show up at big moments in history, and that night they bantered about how cannons shouldn't scare females and they were being overdramatic,  _totally_  ruining the scene. Of course they were such lovesick fools themselves, it was adorable. Oh, but such turmoil while they're apart. They're the most beautiful ongoing story of them all. Either way, they both ruined and lightened up the party that night, making it all the more exciting! They provided wonderful entertainment."

"You're talking about the beginning of the bloodiest war in U.S. history," Annabeth said. "Over six hundred thousand people died - more Americans than in World War One and World War Two combined."

"And the refreshments!" Aphrodite continued. "Ah, they were divine. General Beauregard himself made an appearance. He was such a scoundrel. He was on his second wife, then, but you should have seen the way he looked at Lisbeth Cooper-"

"Mother!" Piper protested and tossed her scone to the pigeons.

"Yes, sorry. To make the story short, I'm here to help you girls. I doubt you'll be seeing Hera much. Your little quest has hardly made her welcome in the throne room. And the other gods are rather indisposed, as you know, torn between their Roman and Greek sides. Some more than others." Aphrodite fixed her gaze on Annabeth. "I suppose you've told your friends about your falling-out with your mother?" Hazel and Piper looked at her curiously.

"Falling-out?" Hazel asked.

"An argument," Annabeth said. "It's nothing."

"Nothing?!" The goddess said. "Well, I don't know about that. Athena was the most Greek of all goddesses. The patron of Athens, after all. When the Romans took over…oh, they adopted Athena after a fashion. She became Minerva, the goddess of crafts and cleverness. But the Romans had  _other_  war gods who were more to their taste, more reliably Roman - like Bellona-"

"Reyna's mom," I muttered.

"Yes, indeed. I had a lovely talk with Reyna a while back, right here in the park. And the Romans had Mars, of course. And later, there was Mithras - not even properly Greek or Roman, but the legionnaires were crazy about his cult. I always found him crass and terribly,  _nouveau dieu_ , personally. At any rate, the Romans quite sidelined poor Athena. They took away most of her military importance. The Greeks never forgave the Romans for that insult. Neither did Athena."

"The Mark of Athena," Annabeth said. "It leads to a statue, doesn't it? It leads to…to  _the_  statue." Aphrodite smiled.

"You are clever, like your mother. Understand, though, your siblings, the children of Athena, have been searching for centuries. None has succeeded in recovering the statue. In the meantime, they've been keeping alive the Greek feud with the Romans. Every civil wa…so much bloodshed and heartbreak…has been orchestrated largely by Athena's children."

"That's…!" Annabeth began. She most likely wanted to say "impossible," but from what she told me of the encounter with her mother, Athena's bitter words and burning hatred in her eyes backed up the story. She hated what the Romans did to her, choosing other gods over her because they were more Roman. She didn't want to be changed to a Roman, but the Romans did it to her anyway, but then cast her aside in favor of other gods.

"Romantic?" Aphrodite offered. "Yes, I suppose it is."

"But…" Annabeth began. "The Mark of Athena, how does it work? Is it a series of clues, or a trail set by Athena…?"

"Hm." Aphrodite looked politely bored. "I couldn't say. I don't believe Athena created the Mark consciously. If she knew where her statue was, she'd simply tell you where to find it. No…I'd guess the Mark is more like a spiritual trail of bread crumbs. It's a connection between the statue and the children of the goddess. The statue  _wants_  to be found, you see, but it can only be freed by the most worthy."

"And for thousands of years, no one has managed."

"Hold on," Piper said. "What  _statue_  are we talking about?" The goddess laughed.

"Oh, I'm sure Annabeth and Emily can fill you in. At any rate, the clue you need is close by: a map of sorts, left by the children of Athena in 1861 - a remembrance that will start you on your path, once you reach Rome. But as you said, Annabeth Chase, no one has ever succeeded in following the Mark of Athena to its end. There you will face your worst fear - the fear od every child of Athena. And even if you survive, how will you use your reward? For war or for peace?"

"This map," I said. "Where is it?"

"Guys!" Hazel warned, pointing to the sky. Circling above the palmetto trees were two large eagles. Higher up, descending rapidly, was a flying chariot pulled by pegasi. Apparently Leo's diversion with Buford the end table hadn't worked - at least not for long. Aphrodite spread butter on a muffin as if she had all the time in the world.

"Oh, the map is at Fort Sumter, of course." She pointed her butter knife toward the island across the harbor. "It looks like the Romans have arrived to cut you off. I'd get back to the ship in a hurry if I were you. Would you care for some tea cakes to go?"


	19. The Options Left to Us

First Person: Emily

We didn't make it to the ship. Halfway across the dock, five giant eagles descended in front of us. Each deposited a Roman commando in purple denim with glittering gold armor, sword, and shield. The eagles flew away, and the Roman in the middle, who was scrawnier than the others, raised his visor.

"Surrender to Rome!" Octavian shrieked. Hazel drew her cavalry sword.

"Fat chance," She grumbled. Octavian himself wouldn't have been a problem, but the four others behind him were clearly seasoned warriors - a lot bigger and stronger than I'd think we could deal with. Piper raised her hands in a placating gesture.

"Octavian, what happened at camp was a setup. We can explain."

"Can't hear you!" Octavian yelled. "Wax in our ears - standard procedure when battling evil sirens. Now, throw down your weapons and turn around slowly so I can bind your hands."

"Let me skewer him," Hazel muttered. "Please." She ship was only fifty feet away, but I couldn't see Zy and Kaze on deck, and Hedge was probably down in his room watching martial arts programs. Jason's team wasn't due back until sunset, and Percy and Audrey were underwater, unaware of the invasion. Annabeth slowly drew her dagger with two fingers, but instead of dropping it, she chucked it as far away as she could into the water. Octavian made a squeaking sound.

"What was that for? I didn't say  _toss_  it! That could've been evidence. Or spoils of war!" Annabeth gave a dumb-blonde smile like:  _Oh, silly me_. Anyone who knew her wouldn't have been fooled, but Octavian seemed to buy it. He huffed in exasperation. "You other three. Put your weapons on the dock. No funny bus-" All around the Romans, Charleston Harbor erupted like a Las Vegas fountain putting on a show. When the wall of seawater subsided, the five Romans were in the bay, spluttering and frantically trying to stay afloat in their armor. Percy stood on the dock, holding Annabeth's dagger.

"You dropped this," He said, totally poker-faced. Annabeth threw her arms around him.

"I love you!"

" _Roman!_ " Kaze shouted. He was suddenly at the edge of the water holding one of the Roman's shields, the other four lying on the dock at his feet. He examined the shield before disappearing and reappearing with the second shield in his hands. He took them all back to the ship and then returned to us and pointing at the five demigods in the water. " _Roman!_ " He threw his arms up in celebration and then sped off somewhere. Zy suddenly appeared and looked around.

"I told Kaze he could take anything he wanted from the Romans," She explained. "He was more than happy to oblige."

"Get me out of here!" Octavian yelled down in the water. "I'll kill you!"

"Tempting," Percy called down.

"What?" Octavian shouted. He was holding on to one of his guards, who was having trouble keeping them both afloat. Audrey jumped out of the water from behind them and landed on the docks completely dry.

"So, uh, what did I miss?"

"Nothing!" Percy shouted to Octavian. "Let's go, guys." Hazel frowned.

"We can't let them drown, can we?"

"Oh, they won't," Audrey promised her. "We've got the water circulating around their feet. As soon as we're out of range, we'll spit them ashore."

"Nice," I said. We hurried aboard the Argo II, and Annabeth ran to the helm.

"Piper, get below. Use the sink in the gallery for an Iris-message. Warn Jason to get back here!" Piper nodded and ran off. "Hazel, go find Coach Hedge and tell him to get his furry hindquarters on deck!"

"Right!"

"Percy, Audrey, Zy, I need your help to get this ship to Fort Sumter." Zy ran up to join Annabeth at the helm and began working to work on the controls. Audrey and Percy got to work telepathically getting the ship ready to sail. Ropes flew on their own - releasing the dock ties, weighing the anchor. The sails unfurled and caught in the wind. Meanwhile, Zy fired the engine. The oars extended with a sound like machine-gun fire, and the Argo II turned from the dock, heading for the island in the distance. The five eagles from before still circled overhead, but they made no attempt to land on the ship, probably because Festus the figurehead blew fire whenever they got close. More eagles were flying in formation toward Fort Sumter - at least a dozen. If each of them carried a Roman demigod…well, that was a lot of enemies. Hedge came pounding up the stairs with Hazel in tow.

"Where are they?" He demanded. "Who do I kill?"

"No killing!" Annabeth ordered. "Just defend the ship!"

"But they interrupted a Chuck Norris movie!" Piper emerged from below.

"Got a message through to Jason. Kind of fuzzy, but he's already on his way. He should be - oh! There!" Soaring over the city and heading in our direction was a giant bald eagle, unlike the golden Roman birds.

"Frank!" Hazel said. Leo was holding on to the eagle's feet, and even from the ship, I could hear him screaming and cursing. Jason was flying behind them, riding the wind.

"Never seen Jason fly before," Percy grumbled. "He looks like a blond Superman."

"Hey!" Veon came through the shadow of the mast. "Sorry I couldn't bring the others. Kinda in a hurry. They're coming." He looked to where everyone's eyes were. "Oh, yeah. Probably saw that already. Where's the enemy?"

"Uh…" Zy began, looking to the dozens of eagles. Surprisingly, they were losing formation as something was attacking them. If you looked closely enough, you could see a red and blue blur jumping between the eagles, knocking them off balance as they were caught by surprise.

"How the heck did he get up there?" Veon asked. "Can your brother  _fly_  too?!"

"I'll explain later."

"They're in trouble!" Piper warned, pointing to Jason and the others. Surely enough, the Roman flying chariot had descended from a cloud and was diving straight toward them. Jason and Frank veered out of the way, pulling up to avoid getting trampled by the pegasi. The charioteers fired their bows, arrows whistling under Leo's feet, which led to more screaming and cursing. Jason and Frank were forced to overshoot the Argo II and fly toward Fort Sumter.

"I'll get 'em!" Hedge yelled. He spun the port ballista.

"Wait!" Veon shouted, but it was too late. Hedge fired, and a flaming spear rocketed toward the chariot. It exploded over the heads of the pegasi and threw them into a panic. Unfortunately, it also singed Frank's wings and sent him spiraling out of control. Leo slipped from his grasp, and the chariot shot toward Fort Sumter, slamming into Jason. He went after Leo, obviously dazed and in pain, and caught him, but struggled to gain altitude. He only managed to slow their fall, and they disappeared behind the ramparts of the fort. Frank tumbled after them, and then the chariot dropped somewhere inside and hit with a bone-shattering  _CRACK!_  One broken wheel spun into the air.

"Coach!" Piper screamed.

"What?!" Hedge demanded. "That was just a warning shot!" Annabeth gunned the engines, and the hull shuddered as we began picking up speed. The docks of the island were only a hundred yards away, but now a dozen more eagles were soaring overhead, all carrying a Roman demigod in its claws. There was suddenly a clanging noise, and we all looked to see Kaze dropping a large bundle of swords, lances, and shields onto the deck. He muttered something about Romans unhappily, or maybe in awe of how heavily armed they were.

"Kaze!" Zy shouted. She gave him orders, probably to not let a single Roman onto the ship, and he nodded before drawing two silver swords and looking toward the eagles.

"Percy, we're gonna come in hard," Annabeth said. "You and Audrey need to control the water so that we don't smash into the docks. Once we're there, you're going to have to hold off the attackers. All of you help and guard the ship."

"But…Jason!" Piper said.

"Frank and Leo!" Hazel added.

"I'll get them back to the ship," Zy said. "Annabeth, you and Emily go and search for the map. Emily, don't be afraid to shut down, understand?" I nodded.

"Right." Once we'd gotten the ship to shore, the water making sure the ship wasn't damaged, Annabeth, Kaze and I ran off the ship, Kaze speeding away and clearing a path. He slashed at the Romans with his swords, but luckily Zy must've ordered him not to kill anyone, because no wounds were fatal and most of his victims only suffered a bruise on their necks and heads where he knocked them out. Leo had somehow escaped unharmed, ducking from portico to portico, blasting fire at the giant eagles swooping down on him. Roman demigods tried to chase him, tripping over piles of cannonballs and dodging tourists, who screamed and ran in circles.

Tour guides kept yelling, "It's just a reenactment!" though they didn't seem sure. The Mist could only do so much to change what mortals saw. Kaze handled every demigod in sight, but with his speed, it looked like the demigods were just collapsing of their own volition, supporting the claim that it was just some act. In the middle of the courtyard, a full-grown elephant that was Frank rampaged around the flagpoles, scattering Roman warriors. Jason stood about fifty yards away, sword-fighting with Dakota, whose lips were still stained cherry red, like blood.

"Sorry about this, Dakota!" He vaulted over the centurion's head like an acrobat and slammed the hilt of his gladius into the back of the Roman's head. Dakota crumpled to the ground. Zy ran up to him and pointed to the ship. The two of them headed for the ship, and Zy raised her hand, the skies darkening with thunderous clouds. That would make a dangerous distraction. Some Romans tried to stop us, but I ran forward without breaking stride, taking them by surprise, and tapped them on any open skin I could, causing them to fall to their knees, staring ahead in a daze.

"Where are we going?" I asked as Annabeth and I bobbed and weaved through the screaming crowd of mortals. We dodged into a small room that must have been part of the garrison. Annabeth muttered things under her breath, considering. Where would former children of Athena hide an important map, one they didn't want falling into enemy hands? Suddenly Annabeth began to look around frantically. She bolted for the door, but it slammed shut.

"What's going on?" Annabeth looked around as though something was surrounding us, but I didn't see anything. I felt the terror in her building, and I sensed a fear that only came to her through spiders. They had always haunted her, as a child of Athena, but as to why she saw them and I didn't, I had no idea.

" _Soon, my dear,_ " A voice whispered. " _You will meet the weaver soon._ "

"Gaea?" Annabeth murmured. "Who…who is the weaver?" She looked down at her feet and tensed. They must've been at her feet.

" _I hope you survive, child. I would prefer you as my sacrifice. But we must let the weaver take her revenge…_ " The earth goddess's voice faded. On the far wall, a red symbol blazed to life: the figure of an owl like the one on the silver drachma Annabeth had shown me, staring straight at Annabeth. The Mark of Athena burned across the walls, and I smelled something burning. It must've been the spiders.

" _Go_ ," Said a new voice - Athena's. " _Avenge me. Follow the Mark._ " The blazing symbol of the owl faded, and the garrison door burst open.

"Annabeth?" I asked. "Annabeth, look at me. You're fine." An explosion shook the building, and she suddenly snapped out of her shock.

"Right…" She said. "We need to go. We've spent too much time here. The others are in danger." Annabeth stumbled and I took her arm to balance her. We made it to the door, and Annabeth breathed in the ocean air. Across the courtyard, past the panicked tourists and fighting demigods, to the edge of the battlements, where a large mortar pointed out to the sea. It may have been my imagination, but the old artillery piece seemed to be glowing red.

"Do you see that?" Annabeth asked.

"The red?" We looked to each other and then nodded before dashing toward it. An eagle swooped at us, but we ducked and suddenly Kaze went zooming past, slashing at the eagle with his sword. He didn't kill it, but he made it shriek and retreat. Without breaking stride, Kaze moved on to the fight, whacking any demigods that tried to get in our way. Roman demigods were forming ranks around the Argo II, but a storm had gathered over their heads. Thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, rain and wind pushed the Romans back. Suddenly the water in the Charleston Harbor gathered and began to rise. Similar to the Kakos' formation, it formed an enormous torso with arms and a head, and then once it had fully formed, the facial features resembled a female.

" _Whoo, it worked!_ " Audrey's voice boomed. She turned her attention to the Romans and then swung her arm to punch the ground, flooding a good deal of them into the water. We reached the mortar, and Annabeth put her hand on the muzzle. On the plug that blocked the opening, the Mark of Athena began to glow - the red outline of an owl.

"In the mortar," Annabeth muttered. "Of course." We pried at the plug with our fingers. Nothing. I grabbed my dagger and planned to pry it off. That turned out not to be necessary, as the moment the Celestial bronze touched the plug, the plug shrank and loosened. Annabeth pulled it off and stuck her hand inside the cannon. She pulled out a small disk of bronze the size of a tea saucer, etched with delicate letters and illustrations. She shoved it in her pack and we turned to leave.

"Rushing off?" Reyna asked. The praetor stood ten feet away, in full battle armor, holding a golden javelin. Her two metal greyhounds growled at her side.

"Reyna, what happened at Camp Jupiter was Gaea's fault," Annabeth said. "Eidolons, possessing spirits-"

"Save your explanations," Reyna said. "You'll need them for the trial." The dogs snarled and inched forward.

" _Rhit!_ " Zy walked up behind us with Kaze by her side, and the dogs paused at her command.

"If you let Gaea drive the camps apart, the giants have already won," I said. "They'll destroy the Romans, the Greeks, the gods, the whole mortal world."

"Don't you think I know that?" Reyna snapped, her voice as hard as iron. "What choice have you left me? Octavian smells blood. He's whipped the legion into a frenzy, and I can't stop it. Surrender to me. I'll bring you back to New Rome for trial. It won't be fair. You'll be painfully executed. But it  _may_  be enough to stop further violence. Octavian won't be satisfied, of course, but I think I can convince the others to stand down."

"Romans," Zy muttered with distaste. "You all don't understand that if we die, then it won't matter if the Romans stand down, which is a problematic at best. Gaea has done this deliberately to leave you no choice, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano."

"Someone must pay for what happened. Let it be you. It's the better option."

"Better than what?" Annabeth asked.

"Use that wisdom of yours. If you escape today, we won't follow. I told you - not even a madman would cross the sea to the ancient lands. If Octavian can't have vengeance on your ship, he'll turn his attention to Camp Half-Blood. The legion will march on your territory. We will raze it and salt the earth." Annabeth paused, and we waited for her answer. " _How will you use your reward?_ " Aphrodite had asked. " _For war or peace?_ " Whatever this Mark of Athena was, it had the ability to bring together the camps if we could somehow retrieve it. Zy was right; Reyna's plan was problematic at best, and our deaths would mean we'd leave Nico to die, we'd basically  _let_  the giants take over, and throw away whatever the Great Prophecy had planned for us.

"I'm going," Annabeth declared. "I'm following the Mark of Athena to Rome." The praetor shook her head.

"You have no idea what awaits you."

" _You_  have no evidence of anything," Zy said. "How many times have  _you_  been to Rome?"

"This grudge between our camps…I can fix it," Annabeth said.

"Our grudge is thousands of years old," Reyna said. "How can one person fix it?"

"The Mark of Athena leads to a symbol of the hatred between Greeks and Romans," Zy said. "We find it, and we can make peace. It's never been found before, but I do not fear death. I fear doing nothing. I'd rather fight and lose than give up without even trying. A Roman would not surrender if they have the ability to do something. What makes you think others would be any different?"

"The quest has to succeed," I said. "You can try and stop us, in which case we'll have to fight to the death, and I don't like your odds. Or, you can let us go, and we'll try to save both our camps. If you must march on Camp Half-Blood, at least try to delay. Slow Octavian down." Reyna's eyes narrowed.

"From a daughter of a war goddess, I respect your boldness. But if you leave now, you doom your camp to destruction."

"Don't underestimate Camp Half-Blood," Annabeth warned.

"You've never seen the legion at war," Reyna countered.

"I've seen them in battle," Zy said. "What makes you think Greeks fight all formal like you? Sure, they'd never win against your legion in a full-on battle, but Greeks fight unpredictable and unorganized. They are chaos on the battlefield. They can hold their own. If the Greeks have survived all these years, it doesn't matter if you wipe Camp Half-Blood off the map. Gaea wishes us to fight, but Octavian doesn't realize the threat she poses. If you don't get along, you will destroy each other, and the winner of your battle shall be weakened to the point where you are helpless against her. Romans are not savages. Prove it."

"Kill them! Kill them all!" We looked to see Octavian crouched behind us guards, screaming encouragement at the other Roman demigods as they struggled to hold their ground, holding up their shields as though they would protect them from the storm around them, or Audrey's flood. On the deck of the Argo II, Percy and Jason stood together, their swords crossed. They were working as one, summoning the sky and the sea to do their bidding. Audrey's large water form spun before transforming into a hurricane that joined in the chaos. Some of the Romans were neck-deep in vats of tar. Water and wind churned together. Waves heaved against the ramparts and lightning flashed. Giant eagles were knocked out of the sky. The wreckage of the flying chariot burned in the water, and Coach Hedge swung a mounted crossbow, taking potshots at the Roman birds as they flew overhead.

"Kaze," Zy motioned towards the Romans. He nodded and sped away to assist in the attack. "Reyna, I hope you use that head of yours and realize what would really be wisest and what needs to be done. If we are to die, then it doesn't matter if you get the Romans to stand down. Gaea will have already won. My team has been built to consist of only the strongest demigods in existence, and we will  _not_  hesitate to strike you down if you attempt to interfere with this prophecy." She looked up to the dark clouds above us and kneeled before jumping up. The moment her feet left the ground, there was a flash of light as she turned to lightning and disappeared into the clouds. The storm instantly doubled in power, and the lightning bolts became deadly accurate, knocking the eagles out of the sky in succession, before raining hell down upon the Romans, who blocked desperately with their shields.

"Our people are at war," Reyna said.

"You don't  _want_  to be," I said. "You understand that this war means nothing but destruction, and if it continues, the only winner will be Gaea. You can't stop this war simply by killing us. It's not going to be that easy. You're smart, Reyna, and wise enough to understand what's really at stake here and how the only way to fix it is for us to succeed. If you stand in our way now, then we'll fight you, but I know it won't come to that." Reyna's expression looked the same as it had at Camp Jupiter when she realized Jason had found another girl. The praetor was too alone, too bitter and betrayed to believe anything could go right for her ever again. But there was something else underneath. Something in her heart that made her so closed off, a past tragic and fearful memory that made her understand us. She's been helpless before, she'd done something wrong, and she had been afraid, but no longer. Reyna would make her own choices, and she'd move forward in life despite all the challenges it threw at her. I'd felt the same feeling within Zy recently, and I knew that they still had the power of choice no matter what burden was put on them.

"Annabeth Chase," She said. "When we meet again, we will be enemies on the field of battle." The praetor turned and walked across the ramparts, her greyhounds behind her.

"Let's go!" I shouted, and we ran for the ship. The winds, water, and lightning that battered the Romans didn't affect us, and we sprinted through their lines with ease.

"Stop them!" Octavian yelled. A spear flew through the air towards us, but suddenly a lightning bolt struck it dead on and it exploded before it could reach us. Piper and Veon were at the gangplank, hands outstretched. I grabbed Veon's and Annabeth grabbed Piper's. The gangplank fell into the sea, and we tumbled onto the deck.

"Go!" Annabeth screamed. "Go! Go! Go!" The engines rumbled beneath us, the oars churned, Jason changed the course of the wind, Audrey transformed into a massive wave, which lifted the ship higher than the fort's walls, and pushed us out to sea. A lightning bolt hit the deck and revealed Zy before she collapsed against a mast breathing hard; some of the water from the wave came aboard and transformed into Audrey before she repeated the motion. Kaze rushed over to his sister out of nowhere, and that accounted for the entire crew. By the time the Argo II reached top speed, Fort Sumter was only a blot in the distance, and we were racing across the waves toward the ancient lands.


	20. Whelp, That Was Fun

First Person: Zytaveon

Whelp, that was fun. We hadn't found anything in the Civil War sub or elsewhere in the museum; just a few elderly tourists, a dozen security guards, and, when we tried to inspect the artifacts, a whole battalion of glowing zombie dudes in gray uniforms. The idea that Frank could control the spirits? Yeah…no. Good thing I was there, or else we'd have been attacked by a pack of angry dead Confederates. I asked them about a map and things about the Mark of Athena, but they had no idea what I was talking about. They mostly ranted on about the war and such, like the Lares back at Camp Jupiter. By the time Piper Iris-messaged us, we were already halfway back to the ship, having walked back through downtown Charleston with no luck.

Percy and Audrey said they'd talked to a Nereid in the Charleston Harbor, and said we should seek help from Chiron's brothers. Annabeth gave some longitude and latitude coordinates to Leo, and he said that the location was in the middle of the Atlantic. Jason and Percy took over the winds and the sea to help us move and stay together, but eventually the sea calmed and the winds died. The boys and Zy and Audrey were tired out, all leaning against the mast with their heads slumped in exhaustion. Annabeth and Piper were tending to the boys, while Kaze and I handled the girls. Hazel and Frank stood just out of earshot, having an argument that involved lots of arm waving and head shaking. The argument stopped abruptly when Hazel saw Leo coming down from the helm, and everyone gathered at the mast.

"No sign of pursuit," Frank said.

"Or land," Hazel added. She looked a little green, though I wasn't sure if that was the rocking of the boat or from arguing. There was nothing but ocean in every direction. It was still hard to believe that after all these months of planning and preparing, this was how we were going across the Atlantic and heading to the Mare Nostrum. I expected this trip to be a little more graceful. Silly me.

I hoped that Camp Half-Blood would be okay. They may be able to handle themselves, and I could only imagine the terror that the Hermes, Ares, and Hephaestus cabins could unleash if they were all on the same team together. It was scary enough during capture the flag, but all of the camp together had to be a recipe for disaster. Still, the Romans were organized, headstrong, and team-oriented. Greeks fought erratically, and that might take the Romans by surprise, or it may make it so that the Romans have the advantage. Who could say? I have no doubt that the camps were about equal in skill and power in their own ways, but with Octavian in power, I have no doubt that he might start to play unfair.

"Did you find the map you wanted?" Leo asked. Annabeth nodded, though she looked pale. Emily put her hand on her shoulder and Annabeth took a deep breath before calming slightly.

"I have to study it," Annabeth said, as if that was the end of the subject. "How far are we from those coordinates?"

"At top rowing speed, about an hour," Leo said. "Any idea what we're looking for?"

"No," She admitted. "Percy? Audrey?" Audrey looked to be asleep, or too tired to respond. Percy raised his head. His green eyes were bloodshot and droopy.

"The Nereid said Chiron's brothers were there, and they'd want to hear about that aquarium in Atlanta. I don't know what she meant, but…" He paused, like he'd used up all his energy saying that much. "She also warned us to be careful. Keto, the goddess at the aquarium, she's the mother of sea monsters. She might be stuck in Atlanta, but she can still send her children after us. The Nereid said we should expect an attack."

"Wonderful," Frank muttered. Jason tried to stand, which wasn't a good idea. Piper grabbed him to keep him from falling over, and he slid back down the mast.

"Can we get the ship aloft?" He asked. "If we could fly…"

"That'd be great," Leo said. "Except Festus tells me the port aerial stabilizer got pulverized when the ship raked against the dock at Fort Sumter."

"Sorry," Audrey muttered. Guess she  _was_  awake. "We were in a hurry trying to save you."

"And saving me is a noble cause," Leo agreed. "I'm just saying, it'll take some time to fix. Until then, we're not flying anywhere."

"Fine with me," Percy said, flexing his shoulders and wincing. "The sea is good."

"Speak for yourself," Hazel said, glancing at the evening sun, which was almost to the horizon. "We need to go fast. We've burned another day, and Nico only has three more left." I looked down. Eight days felt like enough time to get to Nico. Now we were down to three. If we had just been able to sail off peacefully, we'd probably already have made it to him.

"We can do it," Zy promised. She looked like she hadn't slept for days, and was on the verge of passing out. "We'll save him, I promise."

"We can make it to Rome in three days," Leo assured us. "Assuming, you know, nothing unexpected happens." Frank grunted. He looked like he was still working on that bulldog transformation.

"Is there any  _good_  news?"

"Actually, yes. According to Festus, our flying table, Buford, made it back safely while we were in Charleston. Unfortunately, he lost the laundry bag with your pants."

"Dang it!" Frank barked. I guess he  _did_  need more wardrobe options. He'd gotten some shirts from that aquarium back in Atlanta, but no pants. We couldn't exactly stop at a shop in the middle of the Atlantic (at least not to my knowledge, but you never know in this life) and it's not like he could just wear the same pants every day.

"I can loan you some of mine," I offered. Percy interrupted by doubling over and groaning.

"Did the world just turn upside down?" He asked. Jason pressed his hands to his head.

"Yeah, and it's spinning. Everything is yellow. Is it supposed to be yellow?" Zy flopped onto her side, her head hitting the deck.

"I can't see anything," She muttered. "What the heck are you talking about? There's a black blob in front of me." She poked me before dropping her arm, probably too tired to do that. She began muttering things in Japanese, but then switching to some really unintelligible Russian. She  _did_  say that Russian was her worst language, after all.

"I'm gonna go now," Audrey muttered. "Bye-bye." She passed out leaning on Percy, but he wasn't able to support her and they both collapsed.

"Summoning that storm really sapped your strength," Piper said. "You've got to rest."

" _My head hurts too much to rest,_ " Zy said in Chinese, poking her own head in a dazed state. Kaze moved her to sit vertical and put one of her arms over his shoulders. "Go away, red blob," She said in English. "Black blob is more comfortable." She switched to Russian again. " _Me wants a pie of tacos._ "

"Okay, they need to get below deck and into some beds," I announced. " _Kaze, take her to her room. Slowly please._ " He nodded.

" _Hai._ " He walked her off.

"I am tired, so you inquired, and I desired rest," Zy muttered. "What's transpired, I do admire, our group's amount of zest. Yes! Red blob small, black blob tall, but all in all, I feel like blah…L. Doop-a-dah, la-la-la, I'm gonna fall, catch me Saul! Who's Saul? I have no idea." She suddenly fully collapsed, and Kaze was the only reason she didn't face plant. He was physically strong enough to support her, but she was still a bit taller than him and it was hard for him to get a proper grip on her. He managed though and took her down to her room.

"Em, take Audrey, will you? I think her waterbed will do her good." She nodded and took one of Audrey's arms, putting it over her shoulders and her arm around Audrey's waist, following Kaze below deck. "Frank, help with the boys, will you?" Frank glanced at Leo, no doubt reluctant to leave him alone with Hazel.

"It's fine, man," Leo said. "Just try not to drop them on the way down the stairs." Annabeth, Piper, Frank and I got the boys down to their rooms, and I left the three of them to look after the two. Emily popped out of Audrey's room, reporting she was fast asleep and healing. She joined Annabeth and the others in helping the boys, so I went over to Zy's room. She was on her bed and Kaze was mixing something in a bowl. There was a pile of shields, lances, swords, and armor that he'd probably gotten from the Romans, and it was a good thing this room was bigger than it should've been. I wondered if we were going to keep them, or if Zy would make him throw them away. When I walked up and looked over his shoulder, I saw it was some kind of mud-colored paste.

" _What's that?_ " I asked.

" _Medicine,_ " He said. " _Onesan taught me how to make it when we were surviving together. We couldn't afford to be sick for long with our lives. I got the herbs from the dining hall._ " He took the spoon he was mixing the paste with and spread some of it on her forehead. It instantly absorbed into her skin and disappeared without a trace. He moved to put it on her forearm. " _I added a small bit of this nectar thing you told me about. I figured it would work well with the paste. I just seem to know when things go together. Onesan calls it "alchemy" and tells me my father was good at it._ " He put some on her other forearm and then at the base of her neck. " _I've seen her turn to lightning before, but it always drains her significantly. I didn't know she could go and merge with a storm, but she must be on the verge of fading._ "

" _Fading?_ "

" _When she overworks herself she can tend to get stuck between lightning and human. Her body can't decide whether she's one or the other, therefore she becomes hard to touch, both because she's made of enough electricity to power the world, and because she's not entirely solid. The worse it is, the less solid she becomes, and the electricity she's made of will disperse. I've never seen what happens if she completely fades, and I hopefully never have to._ "

" _I've never heard of that happening. She's got a lot of power within her._ "

" _She didn't always have it though. This must be partially because I wore her out during our sparring match earlier. Then the attack happened, and she must've already lost at least a quarter of her strength by that point._ "

" _She's gonna be fine, Kaze. She knows not to push her limits._ "

" _She didn't back when we were surviving together. She'd push herself to dangerous extents to protect me when I went and got myself into trouble._ "

" _She sounds like a good big sister._ " He nodded.

" _I lost my real big sister back before I went to the "orphanage." She couldn't support us both on the streets. My mom died giving birth to me, and my father didn't help us at all. My sister talked about how he abandoned our mom after she got pregnant with me. He never came back, not even to meet me._ " I noticed he was fiddling with Zy's switchblade, swinging the blade back and forth. " _He's Hermes. He can go anywhere, whether he's invited or not. So why couldn't he at least_ visit _me? Just once. He could've helped us, but instead he left my sister to die while she called for his help…_ " I put my hand on his and took the knife. He didn't object, and pulled a metal sphere that seemed to be some contraption out of his pocket and began fiddling with it instead.

" _I'm sure your dad wanted to see you. Gods aren't allowed to meddle in the affairs of their children, no matter how much they want to._ "

" _Then why does your dad see you all the time?_ "

" _He's not an Olympian. He doesn't have as many eyes on him as your dad does. Besides, your dad is the son of Zeus, and he's strict. And my dad has to be careful when he talks to me too. It's not like he can visit whenever he wants. He could see me once when I discovered my heritage. He said I was special or something. I met a lot of the gods, but it wasn't like they paid much attention to me. I usually have to be on the brink of death if he wants to talk, and I'm not_ that _careless in battle. I visit the Underworld when I have free time, but Hades can't act like he cares about me or Zeus will be on his tail. Sure, I see him a lot, but it's not like he sees me every day for a checkup._ "

" _Your father doesn't have many children. Hermes probably doesn't even know I exist, what with all his more important descendants at those camps. You've at least met your father. I've never met Hermes once. If my sister hadn't told me about him, I probably wouldn't know Hermes was my father._ "

" _Hermes must be trying, Kaze. Zeus killed my mother for falling in love with my dad. He doesn't want that to happen to you._ "

" _The Big Three aren't allowed to have children. Hermes isn't forbidden to have them._ " His sphere of metal transformed into a humanoid-shaped robot that walked across his palm. It whirred and muttered " _Kill. Kill. Kill._ " while pointing its arm that held a little gun. It was smiling, and would've been cute had it not fired off a little blast and burnt a small dot into the wall. Kaze put his finger on its head and it transformed back into a sphere.

" _Well if we can fix the gods, then I'll take you to meet Hermes. Or your sister will. I think we have the connections to do so, and maybe if we win this war for them, the gods will grant us a pass._ "

" _Maybe_." His sphere turned into a cat this time, with no visible weapons, as far as I could see. It moved pretty smoothly, and you'd almost believe it was real, if it wasn't multiple shades of gray, had red mechanical eyes, and whirred and clicked when it moved. It walked across his hand before hurrying up his arm and sitting on his shoulder, rubbing its head against his neck affectionately like a real cat would. It made a series of clicking sounds that resembled a purr. I bet Festus would love to have it as a friend.

" _Have faith in the gods, Kaze. They can be jerks, but some of them are trying. I'm gonna go up for guard duty. Look after your sister, all right?_ " He nodded, and his cat put its tail to its forehead in salute motion. I laughed and headed out. Above deck, Hazel and Leo were talking, while Hedge was on the quarterdeck singing the Pokémon theme song, except the coach had changed the words to " _Gotta kill 'em all_." I didn't want to interrupt Hazel and Leo, so I watched from a distance.

"'Oops,'" Leo was saying, in his best impression of Frank. "'Dropped Leo into a squad of enemy soldiers. Dang it!'"

"Go easy on him," Hazel said, though she didn't sound angry. "You and your fireballs make Frank nervous."

"The guy can turn into an elephant, and  _I_  make  _him_  nervous?" Hazel paused. Everyone on this ship was trustworthy, and we should inform each other of the secrets we all hold, but still. It was Frank's decision if he wanted the others to know of his weakness. His firewood was so small, it was scary. If he even thinks of fire for too long, he might end up setting the wood ablaze without wanting to, and with its size, he'd be dead in seconds. It was understandable why he'd be afraid to tell a fire-user about his condition.

"Leo, about what happened at the Great Salt Lake…" There was a pause between them, and I saw Leo had taken the fortune cookie he'd gotten from Nemesis out of his tool belt and was turning it in his fingers.

"I'd be willing," He said. "I could use the fortune cookie to find your brother." Hazel looked stunned.

"What? No! I mean…I'd never ask you to do that. Not after what Nemesis said about the horrible cost. We barely  _know_  each other!" But we were all still friends, and every person on this ship would be willing to take a price if it meant we could find Nico.

"So…that's not what you wanted to talk about? Uh, did you want to talk about the holding-hands-on-the-boulder moment? Because-"

"No!" She said quickly, fanning her face. "No, I was just thinking about the way you tricked Narcissus and those nymphs…"

"Oh, right." Leo glanced self-consciously at his arm. The  **HOT STUFF**  tattoo hadn't completely faded. "Seemed like a good idea at the time. I mean, Zy and Emily must've done a lot to convince the nymphs and Narcissus too…"

"You were amazing. I've been mulling it over, how much you reminded me of-"

"Sammy," He guessed. "I wish you'd tell me who he is."

"Who he  _was_ ," She corrected. "I've been thinking…I might be able to show you."

"You mean like a photo?"

"No. There's a sort of flashback that happens to me. I haven't had one in a long time, and I've never tried to make one happen on purpose. But I shared one with Frank and Veon, so I thought…" Hazel locked eyes with him, and Leo looked nervous.

"When you say flashback…" He swallowed. "What exactly are we talking about? Is it safe?" Hazel held out her hand.

"I wouldn't ask you to do this, but I'm sure it's important. It  _can't_  be a coincidence we met. If this works, maybe we can finally understand how we're connected." Leo glanced back at the helm, but Hedge seemed to be doing fine. The sky ahead was clear, and there was no sign of trouble.

"Okay," He relented. "Show me." He took Hazel's hand, and they froze, taken to the past. The moment belonged to the two of them, and I really shouldn't intrude, but I did want to know if there was some significance to their meeting. I could take a guess that Leo was a descendant of Sammy, but that was still a guess. Curiosity got the best of me, and I walked over to them. I put my hand on Hazel's shoulder, and the world dissolved.


	21. Connections

First Person: Zytaveon

We stood in the courtyard of an old compound, like a monastery. Red brick walls were overgrown with vines, big magnolia trees had cracked the pavement, the sun beat down, and the humidity was about two hundred percent. Somewhere nearby, I smelled fish frying, and overhead, the cloud cover was low and gray, striped like a tiger's pelt. The courtyard was about the size of a basketball court. An old deflated football sat in one corner, at the base of a Virgin Mary statue. Along the sides of the buildings, windows were open, and there were flickers of movement inside, but it was eerily quiet. There was no sign of air conditioning, which meant it must've been a thousand degrees in there.

"Where are we?" Leo asked.

"My old school," Hazel said next to him. "St. Agnes Academy for Colored Children and Indians."

"What kind of name is-?" He turned toward Hazel and yelped. She was a ghost - just a vaporous silhouette in the steamy air. Leo looked down in surprise to see he had turned to mist too.

"You get used to it," I said, floating over to them. "Hey, so what's going on in here?"

"We're trying to figure out the connection between Leo and Sammy," Hazel explained. Leo looked baffled.

"How did you-?" He was interrupted by a bell ringing, not a modern electronic sound, but the old-fashioned buzz of a hammer on metal.

"This is a memory," Hazel said. "No one will see us. Look, here we come."

" _We?_ " From every door, dozens of children spilled into the courtyard, yelling and jostling each other. They were mostly African American, with a sprinkling of Hispanic-looking kids, as young as kindergartners and as old as high schoolers. You could tell this was the past since all the girls wore dresses and buckled leather shoes, the boys wore white collared shirts and pants held up by suspenders, and many wore caps like horse jockeys wear. Some kids carried lunches, but many didn't. Their clothes were clean, but worn and faded. Some had holes in the knees of their trousers, or shoes with the heels coming apart. A few of the girls began playing jump rope with an old piece of clothesline, the older guys tossed a ratty baseball back and forth, and kids with lunches sat together and ate and chattered. No one paid us any attention.

Then Hazel - Hazel from the past - stepped into the courtyard. She looked about two years younger than she was now. Her hair was pinned back in a bun, she wore a dark dress, unlike the other girls in their white cotton or pastel flowery prints, so she stood out like a mourner at a wedding, and her her gold eyes darted around the courtyard uneasily. She gripped a canvas lunch bag and moved along the wall, as if trying hard not to be noticed. It didn't work.

"Witch-girl!" A boy called out. He lumbered toward her, backing her into a corner. The boy could have been fourteen or nineteen. It was hard to tell because he was so big and tall, easily the largest guy on the playground. I figured he'd been held back a few times. He wore a dirty shirt the color of grease rags, threadbare wool trousers (in this heat, they couldn't have been comfortable), and no shoes at all. Maybe the teachers were too terrified to insist that this kid wear shoes, or maybe he just didn't have any.

"That's Rufus," Present Hazel said with distaste.

"Seriously?" Leo asked. "No way his name is Rufus."

"Come on," I said. We hovered forward, Leo getting used to the drifting process. The big kid Rufus had flat features, as if he spent most of his time face-planting on the sidewalk. His hair was cut just as flat on top, so miniature airplanes could've used it for a landing trip. Rufus thrust out his hand.

"Lunch." Hazel from the past didn't protest. She handed over her canvas bag like this was an everyday occurrence. A few older girls drifted over to watch the fun. One giggled at Rufus.

"You don't wanna eat that," She warned. "It's probably poison."

"You're right," Rufus said. "Did your witch mom make this, Levesque?"

"She's not a witch," Hazel muttered. Rufus dropped the bag and stepped on it, smashing the contents under his bare heel.

"You can have it back. I want a diamond, though. I hear your momma can make those out of thin air. Gimme a diamond."

"I don't have diamonds," Hazel said. "Go away." Rufus balled his fists.

"Oi, Jumbo!" A female called. A Hispanic woman made her way forward towards him. The crowds automatically parted for her, and she stomped forward, her white, wedge-heels clacking on the pavement. She was in a fancy yet simple white dress, that seemed to almost be made out of silk and new, contrary to the old cotton dresses of the other girls around them. Her long brown hair flowed down to her shoulders, partially covering her face. She looked to be around Hazel's age, and she held herself with poise, tall and proud like royalty. Her gray eyes shot a gaze that was icy and firm, showing that she wasn't afraid of anything, and that she saw something she didn't like.

"Leave the girl alone, will you?" She demanded in a deep and firm voice. "You wanna pick on someone, at least do it to someone your own size." She walked over to Hazel without a care in the world about the large bully that cornered her and her expression softened as she put her hand on Hazel's shoulder lightly. "You okay?" She asked gently. Hazel seemed surprised, but nodded.

"Beat it, new girl," Rufus said. "This isn't your concern."

"My name is  _Isabella,_ " She declared, her tone returning to its cold form. When she said "Isabella," her voice slipped into a Hispanic accent. "And yes, this is  _very much_  my concern."

"In league with the witch, huh? So does that make you one too?"

"I wouldn't push your luck against a witch like me." She spread her feet in a fighting stance, showing that she was skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Her dress wasn't tight, and her shoes were tightly strapped to her feet, meaning she was fully prepared should a battle break out, and she was willing to defend Hazel.

Before anything could start, another kid stumbled outside into the sunlight. He looked identical to Leo. He was the same height, had the same nervous energy - tapping his fingers against his trousers, brushing at his white cotton shirt, adjusting the jockey cap on his curly brown hair. He had the same devilish smile that Leo had, an expression that made teachers immediately shout, "Don't even think about it!" and plop him in the front row. Apparently, he'd just been scolded by the teacher, as he was holding a dunce cap - an honest-to-goodness cardboard cone that said  **DUNCE**.

Some kids backed up when Sammy Valdez burst onto the scene, while others nudged each other and ran toward him like they were expecting a show. Isabella noticed him, her eyes darting his way a couple times, but she kept her main focus on Rufus, who was oblivious to Sammy's arrival.

"Stay out of this!" He shouted firmly to Isabella, though she didn't even flinch. "A diamond, witch-girl! Come on, give it!" He stepped forward and Isabella twisted her body to hold out her hand in a stop motion. Hazel flinched in fear, pressing herself against the wall. Suddenly, the ground at Isabella's feet went  _snap_ , like a twig breaking, and a perfect diamond the size of a pistachio glittered at her feet.

"Ha!" Rufus barked when he saw it. He started to lean down for it.

"No, please!" Hazel yelped. Isabella moved swiftly, kicking the diamond up and into the air in a perfect arc, spinning around before catching it and holding it back and out of Rufus's reach, her face unchanging. That's when Sammy strolled over, putting the top of the dunce cap to his mouth like a megaphone.

"CUT!" He yelled. He said it with such authority all the other kids momentarily froze. Even Rufus straightened and backed away in confusion. Isabella moved her eyes to him, but nothing else. One of the little boys snickered.

"Hammy Sammy," He said under his breath. Sammy stormed up to Rufus with his dunce cap in his hand, looking angry.

"No! No! No!" He announced, waving his free hand wildly at the other kids, who were gathering to watch the entertainment. Sammy turned to Hazel and Isabella, first looking to Hazel. "Miss Lamarr, your line is…" Sammy looked around in exasperation. "Script! What is Hedy Lamarr's line?"

" _No, please, you villain!_ " One of the boys called out.

"Thank you!" Sammy said. "Miss Lamarr, you're supposed to say, " _No, please, you villain!_ " And you, Miss Judy Garland." He turned to Isabella, who was looking at him in confusion and interest. "You must say, " _We must run, my dear!_ " and leave the diamond. Keep the brave front, of course, but don't forget the drama. You must save your friend from the evil villain, but don't overdo it, please. Remember, you're brave, but still a victim." Isabella stared at him for a moment, before smiling. She dropped her fighting stance and then set the diamond back on the ground.

"Of course," She said, being purposefully overdramatic as she put the back of her hand to her forehead. "We must run, my dear~!" She said, though she was still smiling.

"Excellent! And you, Clark Gable-" The whole courtyard burst into laughter. Apparently, the idea that Flathead Rufus could be Clark Gable was hilarious to the kids. "Mr. Gable-"

"No!" One of the girls cried. "Make him Gary Cooper!" More laughter. Rufus looked as if he were about to blow a valve. He balled his fists like he wanted to hit somebody, but he couldn't attack the entire school. He clearly hated being laughed at, but his slow little mind couldn't quite work out what Sammy was up to. Leo nodded in appreciation at his twin. I guess Leo had done the same kind of stuff to bullies for years.

"Right!" Sammy yelled imperiously. "Mr. Cooper, you say, " _Oh, but the diamond is mine, my treacherous darlings!_ " And then you scoop up the diamond like this!"

"Sammy, no!" Hazel protested, but Sammy snatched up the stone and slipped it into his pocket in one smooth move. He wheeled on Rufus. "I want emotion! I want the ladies in the audience swooning! Ladies, did Mr. Cooper make you swoon just now?"

"No!" Several of them called back.

"There, you see?" Sammy cried. "Now, from the top!" He yelled into his dunce cap. "Action!" Rufus was just starting to get over his confusion. He stepped toward Sammy.

"Valdez, I'm gonna-!" The bell rang, and kids swarmed the doors. Sammy pulled Hazel out of the way while Isabella sidestepped on her own as the little ones - who acted like they were on Sammy's payroll - herded Rufus along with them so he was carried inside on a tide of kindergartners. Soon, it was only the three of them and us ghosts. Sammy scooped up Hazel's smashed lunch, made a show of dusting off the canvas bag, and presented it to her with a deep bow, as if it were her crown.

"Miss Lamarr." Hazel from the past took her ruined lunch. She looked like she was about to cry, but I couldn't tell if it was from relief, misery, or admiration.

"Sammy…Rufus is going to kill you."

"Ah, he knows better than to tangle with me." Sammy plopped the dunce cap on top of his jockey camp. He stood up straight and stuck out his scrawny chest. The dunce cap fell off. The two girls laughed.

"You are ridiculous," Hazel declared.

"Why, thank you, Miss Lamarr."

"You're welcome,  _my treacherous darling_."

"Here, have my lunch," Isabella said, walking a little way away and grabbing a rectangular metal lunch box. "I don't need it anyway."

"I can't take that," Hazel said.

"Nonsense, I'm giving it to you. You shall take it whether you like it or not. As lunch is over, I expect you to eat it as a snack or for dinner." She took Hazel's canvas lunch and then stuck the handle of her metal lunch box in Hazel's hand. "I'm  _Isabella de la Orden_ ," She said, slipping into her Hispanic accent on her name. "We witch-girls have to stick together, no? Meet me for lunch - or just come to me - any time you need. Of course, you already seem to have a knight to protect you." She motioned to Sammy. "But everyone needs a little help every now and then."

"So are you? A witch, I mean. Not that…I don't mean to be…"

"It's all right. I take pride in the title. Don't let what others say bring you down. Take pride in it, like this gentleman over here. As for your question, I'm no more of a witch than you are, that is to say, no, I'm not one. I'm just a girl with bad luck, in a situation that I didn't ask for. As you can see, I cope with it as best I can. Be strong, Hazel. Things are hard for our kind, but that doesn't mean it's impossible for us to make it through. People like us, we've gotta stick together. Keep your head up, nothing lasts forever. Oh, wait, that song hasn't happened yet, has it? Ah, but I'm rambling. Seek me out whenever you wish. I'm available at all times of the day. Don't hesitate to ask for my help, even if it's for something as small as needing to borrow a pencil or lamenting about the boredom of history class. Understood?" Hazel nodded.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me, darling. Your nice man here did more magic than this witch. He's a keeper." She winked and Hazel blushed. "Anyway, I'll see you all when I see you. Good luck. Remember, I'm always there if you need me." She waved and walked off. Hazel looked to Sammy, and her good mood seemed to waver as she looked to the ground.

"You shouldn't have touched that diamond," She said. "It's dangerous."

"Ah, come on," Sammy said. "Not for me!" Hazel studied him warily, like she wanted to believe it.

"Bad things might happen. You shouldn't-"

"I won't sell it. I promise! I'll just keep it as a token of your flavor." Hazel forced a smile.

"I think you mean "token of my favor."

"There you are! We should get going. It's time for our next scene: "Hedy Lamarr nearly dies of boredom in English class!" It'll be a hit!" Sammy held out his elbow like a gentleman, but Hazel pushed him away playfully.

"Thanks for being there, Sammy."

"Miss Lamarr, I will  _always_  be there for you!" He said brightly. The two of them raced back to the schoolhouse. The ghost of Leo looked saddened at the scene, realizing how much Sammy had meant to Hazel, and how hard it must've been for her to look at him so often.

"Hazel," He said. "I…I don't-" The schoolyard dissolved into a different scene. The three of us were still ghosts, but now we stood in front of a rundown house next to a drainage ditch overgrown with weeds. A clump of banana trees drooped in the yard, perched on the steps, an old-fashioned radio played  _conjunto_ music, and on the shaded porch, sitting in a rocking chair, a skinny old man gazed at the horizon.

"Where  _are_  we?" Hazel asked, her voice full of alarm. "This isn't from my life!"

"It isn't from mine," I said. Leo's ghost flickered, seeming to solidify.

"It's Houston," He realized. "I know this view. That drainage ditch…this is my mom's old neighborhood, where she grew up. Hobby Airport is over that way."

"This is  _your_  life?" Hazel asked. "I don't understand! How-?"

"You're asking me?!" Leo demanded.

"Shut up and look!" I said, pointing to the old man.

"Ah, Hazel…" He murmured. His eyes were fixed on the horizon, and there was no way he could see us. This was just a memory, after all. We weren't really here. "I guess we ran out of time," He continued dreamily. "Well…" He didn't finish the thought. The old man had clearly been talking to himself, but that didn't explain why he'd said Hazel's name. He had leathery skin, curly white hair, and gnarled hands, like he'd spent a lifetime working in a machine shop. He wore a pale yellow shirt, spotless and clean, with gray slacks and suspenders and polished black shoes. Despite his age, his eyes were sharp and clear. He sat with a kind of quiet dignity. He looked at peace - amused, even, like he was thinking, " _Dang, I lived this long? Cool!_ "He was tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair, but the tapping wasn't random. He was using Morse code, just like Leo did, like his mother had done, and he was even tapping the same message: I love you.

Suddenly, there was a light behind the man, before it resolved into a woman. As if things couldn't get any more shocking or confusing. The woman was a spitting image of Zy. She was in a simple white dress that went all the way down to her ankles, and her skin was so pale it might as well have been white. She had on wedge boots, along with a necklace that had an oval-shaped gem in a bronze holder on a black leather cord, but other than that, no jewelry. She seemed to be glowing, and slowly stepped forward with the elegance of a royal. Her face and hair were identical to Zy in every aspect, only she looked to be a bit older, maybe in her twenties. She moved to sit beside the old man, a chair shimmering into existence with a small flash of light.

"You know, my offer to her extended to you as well," She said, her voice deep and melodious. The old man turned to her, though he didn't seem shocked or panicked by a glowing woman with magic appearing to talk to him.

"Do I know you?" He asked.

"Yes. You once knew me as  _Isabella de la Orden_ ," She said, slipping into her Hispanic accent on her name.

"Isabella? You…look different. Are you an angel? A goddess?" His demeanor remained calm, as though this was the most normal thing in the world. He asked the questions as though he was asking her, " _Did you cut your hair since I last saw you?_ " She looked to the sky, resting her arms on the chair's armrests and lacing her fingers in front of her.

"Well…that's a complicated question. I once had the  _name_  Angel, but not anymore. Yes, this shell is a goddess. The woman you see before you now is a goddess indeed. The being taking refuge within, however, is more complicated. I am a goddess in technical terms, a goddess called a Primordial. But that remains unimportant. It's been a long time." The screen door opened, and a young woman came out. She wore jeans and a turquoise blouse, her hair was cut in a short black wedge. She was pretty, but not delicate. She had well-muscled arms and calloused hands. Like the old man's, her brown eyes glinted with amusement. In her arms, was a baby, wrapped in a blue blanket.

"Look, mijo," She said to the baby. "This is your bisabuelo. Bisabuelo, you want to hold him?" When Leo heard her voice, he sobbed. That must've been his mother, and that meant the baby in his arms…The old man broke into a huge grin. He had perfect teeth, as white as his hair. His face crinkled with smile lines.

"A boy! Mi bebito, Leo!"

"Leo?" Hazel whispered. "That…that's you? What is bisabuelo?"

"It's great-grandfather," I said, remembering the little I learned in Spanish class back at school. The old man took baby Leo in his arms, chuckling with appreciation and tickling the baby's chin.

"He's adorable," Zy said, smiling lightly and looking to baby Leo. If the man knew her as Isabella, and she'd said her offer to Hazel had extended to him, then this confirmed my suspicions. Somehow, Hazel's power to revisit the past had found the one event that connected both of their lives, where Leo's timeline touched Hazel's.

"Oh…" Hazel said, seemingly realizing who he was. Her voice became very small, on the verge of tears. "Oh, Sammy, no…"

"Ah, little Leo," Sammy Valdez said, aged well into his seventies. "You'll have to be my stunt double, eh? That's what they call it, I think. Tell her for me. I hoped I would be alive, but, ay, the curse won't have it!" Hazel sobbed.

"Gaea…Gaea told me he died of a heart attack, in the 1960s. But this isn't…this can't be…" Sammy Valdez kept talking to the baby, while Leo's mother, Esperanza, looked on with a pained smile - perhaps a little worried that Leo's bisabuelo was rambling, a little sad that he was speaking nonsense.

"That lady, Doña Callida, she warned me." Sammy shook his head sadly. "She said Hazel's great danger would not happen in my lifetime. But I promised I would be there for her. You will have to tell her I'm sorry, Leo. Help her if you can."

"Bisabuelo," Esperanza said. "You must be tired." She extended her arms to take the baby, but the old man cuddled him a moment longer. Baby Leo seemed perfectly fine with it.

"Tell her I'm sorry I sold the diamond, eh?" Sammy continued. "I broke my promise. When she disappeared in Alaska…ah, so long ago, I finally used that diamond, moved to Texas as I always dreamed. I started my machine shop. Started my family! It was a good life, but Hazel was right. The diamond came with a curse. I never saw her again."

"Oh, Sammy," Hazel sobbed. "No, a curse didn't keep me away. I  _wanted_  to come back. I died!" The old man didn't hear her, and I put my arms around Hazel as she cried, desperate for her words to be heard. Sammy smiled down at the baby and kissed him on the head.

"I give you my blessing, Leo. First male great-grandchild! I have a feeling you are special, like Hazel was. You are more than a regular baby, eh? You will carry on for me. You will see her someday. Tell her hello for me."

"Bisabuelo," Esperanza implored.

"Yes, yes." Sammy chuckled. " _The crazy old man_  rambles on," He said, the first part in Spanish. "I am tired, Esperanza. You are right. But I'll rest soon. It's been a good life. Raise him well, nieta." Esperanza took baby Leo back and headed inside.

"I have a daughter. She is my stunt double as Leo is yours," Zy, or I suppose, Zy's  _mother_  said, staring at the horizon, having been unseen by Esperanza. "She will have to face hardships as well. I can only pray for her survival and happiness."

"Why did you come to us in the form of Isabella?" Sammy asked, his eyes back on the horizon as well, as though remembering those days.

"Isabella was a former host. A tough girl who wished to stand up for those treated unfairly. She was lucky in life, as you saw. Her mother married to a rich man and she got a better life than most in her position. But for others like her who were treated so unfairly, she wished for them to have equal rights as well. She chose to go to your school rather than one her father could get her into. She was a brave and daring woman, one I offered my power to in exchange for her hosting me. I asked her in particular so that I could meet Hazel. She has a destiny ahead of her, that's true, but she must learn to be brave on her own, first. Though you aren't able to help her now, you gave her a dream, a strong past and memory to look upon when times are tough. You brightened her life, made her into a good person despite all her hardships. For that, I am thankful. And I've come to tell you, that you  _were_  there for her. It's more than I can do for my own kin. In return for being a goddess and having such power, I can't even meet my own daughter. I spent seconds with her before handing her off to her father, and now I will never see her again."

"You are young, Isabella, or do you prefer another name now?"

"Technically, I am Zenobia. The name I prefer, however, is Ren."

"Well, you are young and powerful. You have time, Ren."

"Maybe. I've sent a boy to look after my daughter as well. Hopefully, he can help her through the dark days to come. Hopefully, he can tell her I love her. Like you, I am unable to assist in the future, and now I have to believe things will work out. Hazel missed you too, you know. She always wondered if you had a happy life without her. She always wanted to come back to you. She never forgot you, and she never will. And she knows you were looking out for her. You lived a life, a good one. That's all she could ever want for you. She forgives you for selling that diamond, if it meant you lived a full life. Though I may not look like it, I too have lived many years. I am just as tired as you."

"I think we both deserve some rest, then." She nodded. The scene faded. We were standing on the Argo II, Leo holding Hazel's hand while I stood next to her with my hand on her shoulder. The sun had gone down, and the ship was lit only by bronze lanterns. Hazel's eyes were puffy from crying. What we'd see had been too much for them. The whole ocean heaved under us, and for the first time, it felt as if we were totally adrift.

"Hello, Hazel Levesque," Leo said, his voice gravelly. Her chin trembled. She turned away from him and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, the ship lurched to one side.

"Leo!" Coach Hedge yelled. Festus whirred in alarm and blew flames into the night sky. The ship's bell rang. "Those monsters you were worried about? One of 'em found us!"


	22. Shrimpzilla and A Broken Oath

First Person: Lucy

I woke to the ship rocking. I felt a lot better than I had before, refreshed even. It smelled like herbs. Kaze shook my arm, and I saw a robotic cat on his shoulder that was looking at me with the same concern he had.

" _Hey,_ " I said. " _You okay?_ " He nodded.

" _That's what I should be asking you._ "

" _I'm…surprisingly good._ " He smiled.

" _I remembered the herbs you taught me._ " He grabbed a bowl off the nightstand that had the remains of a herbal paste in it, though it looked a bit different. " _I added some nectar too._ "

" _That was smart. You're a real alchemist._ " He nodded proudly. " _Who's your friend there?_ " He looked to the robotic cat.

" _I don't know. I made him unconsciously._ "

" _What are you gonna name him?_ " He shrugged, and the little cat steadied itself on his shoulder with grace. It clicked and whirred in a cute way, and moved pretty smoothly. Kaze was a descendant of both Hermes and Hephaestus, meaning he had a lot of good inventor blood in him. Then it transformed into a little humanoid robot with a gun in his hand. It fired off a little blast onto the wall next to my bed, and I saw that there were two little burn marks. "Kill. Kill. Kill." Kaze tapped him on the head quickly and he reverted to a cat.

" _He does that._ " I smiled before I noticed the pile of weapons he'd gotten from the Romans. I sighed, but really, I didn't mind. I was used to Kaze stealing things, and better he have them than the Romans. That did leave the question of what we were going to do with them. When I got my strength back, I might want to add an armory to my room. His little cat made a robotic purr and rubbed its head against his neck.

" _He's adorable. How about Neko? Cat._ " The little cat mewed in contentment. Kaze looked surprised.

" _He's never mewed before. Neko it is._ " Suddenly the ship lurched from an attack, and Neko transformed into a metal ball. I sat up and Kaze followed me out the door of my room.

"What the heck is happening?!" I shouted.

"I don't know!" Emily admitted. The ship tilted starboard.

"We need to get up there!" We moved down the hall, joining the others as we scrambled up the deck.

"What's going-?" Percy began before we all saw what was attacking the ship. "Gah! Shrimpzilla!" The thing was the length of our ship. In the moonlight, it looked like a cross between a giant shrimp and a cockroach, with a pink chitinous shell, a flat crayfish tail, and millipede-type legs undulating hypnotically as the monster scraped against the hull of the Argo II. Its head surfaced last - the slimy pink face of an enormous catfish with glassy dead eyes, a gaping toothless maw, and a forest of tentacles sprouting from each nostril, making the bushiest nose beard I'd ever had the displeasure to behold. Leo was making his way to the helm, and Hazel was clutching the rigging, looking dazed from seasickness, and Frank hurried to her side, but she gestured that she was all right.

"Ve!" I called. I couldn't see him anywhere. " _Where is he?_ " I asked Kaze.

" _He came up here for guard duty._ "

"Over here!" He called. He had his lance drawn and was hovering over to us from over the railing, probably having been thrown off the ship from something. "What the heck is this thing?!" He demanded. The monster rammed the ship and the hull groaned. Annabeth, Piper, Jason, and Emily tumbled to starboard and almost rolled overboard. Leo reached the helm, and his hands flew across the controls. Over the intercom, Festus clicked and clacked about leaks below deck, but the ship didn't seem to be in danger of sinking - at least not yet. I hurried up to Leo and began to help him, and Leo toggled the oars. They could convert into spears, which might be enough to drive the creature away, but it looks like they were jammed. Shrimpzilla must have knocked them out of alignment, and the monster was within spitting distance, which meant we couldn't use the ballistae without setting the Argo II on fire as well.

"How did it get so close?!" Annabeth shouted, pulling herself up on one of the rail shields.

"I don't know!" Hedge snarled. He looked around for his bat, which had rolled across the quarterdeck.

"I'm stupid!" Leo scolded himself. "Stupid, stupid! I forgot the sonar!" Leo designed the hull to resonate every few seconds, sending waves through the Mist and alerting Festus to any nearby monsters, but it only worked in one mode at a time: water or air. He must've forgotten to switch the ship's detection system from radar to sonar when we left Charleston Harbor. The ship tilted farther to starboard. Either the monster was trying to give us a hug, or it was about to capsize us.

"Sonar?!" Hedge demanded. "Pan's pipes, Valdez! Maybe if you hadn't been staring into Hazel's eyes, holding hands for so long-"

" _What?!_ " Frank yelped.

"It wasn't like that!" Hazel protested.

"It doesn't matter!" Piper said. "Jason, Zy, can you summon lightning?" Jason struggled to his feet.

"I…" He only managed to shake his head. Summoning the storm earlier had taken too much out of him. I pointed my finger at monster's face, and my finger sparked before releasing a zap of lightning. It hit the monster in the eye, making it screech, but that only seemed to anger it. I was suddenly extremely drained, leaning against the console, on the verge of passing out again from that one small blast. Kaze was at my side and moved me to sit down before drawing his swords and rushing to strike the monster at his alarming speed. His blades made cuts across the large beast in every place I could see, but he was also unable to do fatal damage, only making the monster more alert and angry, going more on the offensive against us.

Then the monster's tendrils lashed across the deck so fast, I barely had the chance to process what was happening before they were upon us. One slammed Percy and Veon in the chest each, sending them crashing down the steps. Another wrapped around Piper and Emily's legs, dragging them, screaming, towards the rail. Dozens more tendrils curled around the masts, encircling the crossbows and ripping down the rigging. Kaze was caught with a shout of surprise, his blades clanging against the deck as he was wrapped in numerous tentacles, enough to completely engulf him. He was squeezed tightly, making sure he couldn't use his speed and had no wiggle room.

"Kaze!" I called. I tried to stand, leaning on the walls and railing as I passed to try and get to him. Veon came running back up and flew over to the mass of tentacles holding Kaze, slicing it with his lance and striking as hard as he could to cut through. When Kaze's hand came into view, he grabbed it and used his lance to pull as hard as he could, and Kaze was freed. He took a deep breath, clearly having been suffocated, and his eyes were wide in panic. Veon dropped him next to me and I hugged him as tightly as the tentacles had in relief.

He moved with Jason to help try and free Piper and Emily, but even though both weapons cut through the tendrils no problem, more took their place near instantly, and it was all they could do to fend them off and hold their ground. Veon summoned a few Kako to help, but they weren't able to restrain the tentacles with their size and numbers, and they had no ability to slash. They were slow, but they did have the ability to try and eat a good deal of the tentacles and turn them into more tar.

"Nose-hair attack!" Hedge announced, snatching up his bat and leaping into action, but his hits just bounced harmlessly off the tendrils. Audrey summoned her trident to fend off the wave of tentacles coming after her, joining Annabeth as she unsheathed her dagger. They ran through the forest of tentacles, dodging and stabbing at whatever target they could find. Frank pulled out his bow. He fired over the creature's entire body, lodging arrows in the chinks of its shell; but that only seemed to annoy the monster. It bellowed and rocked the ship. The mast creaked like it might snap off. We needed more firepower, but we couldn't use the ballistae. We needed to deliver a blast that wouldn't destroy the ship.

I had no access to my lightning, my strength, my summons, or speed in my current condition. At best, I might be able to enhance a weapon. I reached for my gun in my holster at the back of my belt, but I paused when I wrapped my fingers around the handle. If I had a bow, I wouldn't even need to waste my powers. Using a bow empowered me, not the other way around. There was a perfectly good bow in my room, with arrows that were to my liking. I'd studied it a hundred times over in temptation. I was a critic when it came to bows and arrows, especially if I was going to be using it. Veon made the bow the perfect height for my long arms and fingers, he made it a longbow, my preferred model, and he made the arrows perfectly weighted and fletched, along with the right length for the bow and my draw preference. How he knew me so well, I don't know, and how he made that bow so perfect was the biggest mystery I'd ever faced. And the biggest temptation.

" _Kaze, I need my bow and quiver._ "

" _Onesan?_ "

" _In my room. You saw them. Get them for me now._ "

" _But Onesan, didn't you say-?_ "

" _I know what I said! Get them for me now!_ " He stared a moment before nodding and disappearing only for a second, returning with the weapons in hand. I took the quiver and hooked it on my belt at my right between my bag and my guns. I grabbed an arrow first before bracing myself. I snatched up the bow as quickly as I could and nocked the arrow. Though my left hand began to spasm and cramp, everything within me yelling to get away from it, I forced my hand to keep a grip on it with whatever will I could muster.

Coach Hedge danced through the tentacles with his nimble goat hooves, smashing away with gusto and bounding toward the controls, taking them as Leo raced toward the mast. The monster pushed against the Argo II, and the deck lurched 45 degrees. I managed to keep my balance, but it forced me to have to re-aim. Despite everyone's efforts, the tentacles were just too numerous to fight. They seemed able to elongate as much as they wanted, and soon they'd have the Argo II completely entangle. Percy hadn't appeared from below, and the others were barely holding their ground against nose hair. If I had my full strength, I'd probably be able to strike this thing down with an explosion of lightning, or summon something like Leviathan to take it down, but right now, all I had was my bow and a hope.

"Frank!" Leo called as he ran towards Hazel, who was opening a supply box that  _really_  shouldn't be touched. I guess this  _was_  an emergency. "Buy us some time! Can you turn into a shark or something?" Frank glanced over, scowling, and in that moment, a tentacle slammed into the guy, knocking him overboard. Hazel screamed. She'd opened the supply box and almost dropped the two glass vials she was holding. Luckily, Leo caught them. Each was about the size of an apple, and the liquid inside glowed poisonous green. Audrey ran, slicing through any tentacle that got in her way gracefully with her trident, before leaping off the railing and diving after Frank. Leo handed Hazel one of the vials, before they began making their way to the port rail.

Now or never. They needed a distraction. I aimed for the giant Shrimpzilla without thinking much about a specific target, and let my hands do the work. Pulling back the string seemed to give me power instead of straining my arms, and I realized just how much I missed this feeling. It was so empowering, and that warning the bow was giving me was drowned out by the warm sensation that surged through me. I felt like I'd taken a breath of fresh air, and was no longer so drained from the storm and lightning usage. But this was only the beginning. When I released the arrow, I felt that sudden release of tension, felt the snap of the bowstring shaking the bow, and that slight whoosh as the arrow flew. Even though it had long since left me, I could just  _feel_  the arrow flying towards its target, and when it struck the Shrimpzilla in the head before exploding in a blast of light purple energy that resulted in a large screech.

I snatched up another arrow and fired it off towards a large mass of tentacles that was pushing the others back. This time, as it flew, it began to glow with that light purple energy in midair before leaving a wake of energy behind it as it sliced through the air. It tore through the tentacles, vaporizing them in the potent wave of energy. I controlled the winds around it, causing the arrow to circle around to all the tentacles in a semicircle before it returned to me. The energy dissipated before I caught the arrow and I slipped it back in my quiver in one swift motion. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but the moment the arrow was back in my quiver, the tentacle remains that had been touched by my arrow's energy exploded. More tentacles began to replace the ones that had been destroyed, but I'd cleared the playing field and given the team more of an advantage.

I swung my bow at a mass of tentacles that aimed for me, and the bow shaft sparked with purple electricity before I struck, giving it a heavy smack. The bow was extremely sturdy and stood up to my strength, and the electricity spread down the tentacles before making them explode as well. Kaze drew his other two swords and began to make a defensive ring around the others, slicing at any of the tentacles that came close to them, and trying to contain the rate they came back for us. We'd be able to hold our own at this rate, so I fired upon the Shrimpzilla, but it was hard-headed and my arrows weren't able to pierce through even when energized. We needed to get something down its gullet, and Greek fire would do nicely.

Suddenly there was a scream from Hazel as she and Leo were grabbed by a tentacle and lifted into the air. Leo's arms were free, but it was all he could do to keep ahold of his vial, and those vials contained Greek fire. Chucking those vials down the beast's mouth would solve this problem from the inside out. This guy was resilient, and I most likely had a limited amount of time with my bow. Hazel was struggling, but her arms were pinned, which meant at any moment the vial trapped between them might break, and that I couldn't risk cutting them free. They might fall and break their vials, which would not be good for their health.

They rose ten feet, twenty feet, thirty feet above the monster. Hedge was struggling to keep the boat from capsizing, the others were slashing away at the tentacles, and even Kaze's speed wasn't enough to completely contain them, as he was being careful to avoid getting caught in the tentacles again. Audrey still wasn't back with Frank yet, and I could only hope she saved him from drowning at the moment. I couldn't try and free Hazel and Leo directly, and I couldn't risk hitting the tentacle and letting it drop them when they had deadly Greek fire in their possession. I suppose this was one way to get the Greek fire into the beast's mouth. With Hazel's vial trapped between the two of them, there wasn't any completely safe way to do this, but we had to try.

"Leo!" I called, nocking another arrow and aiming for the monster's face. "Get ready!" He nodded and relayed some instructions to Hazel. I let my arrow fly and hit it in the face with another exploding arrow. The monster raised its maw, bellowing in pain, and Leo threw his Greek fire straight down its throat. The monster released them, Hazel chucked her Greek fire blindly, there was a muffled explosion and I saw a green flash of light inside the giant pink lampshade of the monster's body. The Shrimpzilla was set ablaze with green fire, and I began shooting its face and body to try and get its main body off the ship before the ship caught fire as well. Leo and Hazel fell into the water, and this time Veon dived in after them with his lance, as Audrey hadn't resurfaced yet.

Kaze grabbed his two dropped swords and connected them back into a four-bladed shuriken before jumping and throwing it into speed-mode, striking the body of the Shrimpzilla with booming force before it returned to him in an instant and he threw it again and again. His throws had the equivalent of more force than my exploding arrows, and more pushing force rather than destructive force, so we managed to get the main body off the ship before the hull was set ablaze. Kaze threw his shuriken at more of an arc now, and I shot an arrow around the ship as well so that the tentacles all released. The boat rocked once more from the release of the tentacles, but the Shrimpzilla burned from the Greek fire before it sank beneath the waves. There was a moment of silence, the adrenaline from a battle still there, and the sudden quiet unnerving. The Shrimpzilla seemed to be gone, though whether it had died or just ran away, I don't know. Nothing else seemed to come after us, and we seemed to be in the clear.

Then my vision blurred, and that feeling my bow gave me as a warning signal returned, except it no longer seemed to be just a warning. Everything within me tingled painfully, with that feeling like when you sit on your foot or arm to long and then try to allow circulation again. My limbs screamed as though something inside me wanted to escape, my muscles tensing and spasming like I was being electrocuted. I was immune to electric shocks, but even so, that was the only way I could describe it. Maybe it was irony. Styx decided that my punishment would be the very things I took for granted.

But then everything froze. The others on the Argo II were moving from the shock of the battle and looking around for those that had fallen off the ship, but they stopped just as they were gathering their bearings. Kaze was running towards me, no doubt in speed-mode, but he slowed to a crawl as well before completely stilling. The pain surging through me seemed to numb as well, but my vision seemed to tunnel, the world around me darkening like the stage lights during a play. There was a slow whoosh that sounded like a breeze with my increased Apollo hearing, before it transformed into the waves of a river.

In the darkness, I found myself facing the river I'd sworn and broken an oath upon. The immortal whom the river was named stood before me herself, her ebony hair wafting in the cold current, her dress billowing around her life volcanic smoke. Her face was delicate and sublime, her lipstick, eye shadow, and mascara all expertly done in shades of midnight. Her skin was pale, her features were sharp like some kind of elf, her obsidian eyes gleamed with hatred, and she held herself with an air of power and superiority. If I didn't know any better, I might think she was Chaos personified as a female. I might be intimidated more if I hadn't been hosting a goddess who was just as threatening and daunting.

"Oath-breaker," She said with a harsh tone. "Have I not given you sufficient warning in your vow?"

"You have. And I didn't ignore them. Why give me a warning in the first place? Not to mention the fact that you're visiting me personally. I doubt that happens very often unless it's serious. And…yes, I made a promise that I couldn't live up to. I could never meet the challenge that I made for myself. I made the oath to punish myself and I  _never_  expected to fulfill the conditions. Today, maybe I could've figured something else out, maybe I didn't need to pick up this bow and use it, but I did. I accept that and I will take my punishment. I will walk through whatever you punish me with, because I must. If I succeed, wonderful. If I fail, it won't matter anymore." She studied me with cautious curiosity, as though she was being played.

"You don't realize your failure means all's end?"

"No. I know it does. And that's why failure doesn't seem too bad. If I cease, maybe I'll know peace. Humph, that rhymed. Guess it means my words are truthful. I blame Apollo." Styx seemed to consider me. No doubt that she's faced people like me before, who feel that death would be a better option, meaning she knew what kind of punishment to deal out to us instead. Everyone's different, but I had no idea what punishment she could dish out to me that I couldn't somehow deal with.

She'd have to make sure I was alive to understand my punishment, so some kind of immobilizing pain seemed logical, like the electric paralysis I had before I came here. There were types of torture that included maybe losing my sight, hearing, or voice from all my Apollo traits. Or maybe my sense of touch, so that I can't feel anything. That would be terrifying. Interesting, but terrifying, probably. Losing some kind of essential that I take for granted would have irony, as I gave into a temptation that I  _believed_  was essential. I felt lost without my bow, as though I'd lost a piece of myself, and in return for breaking an oath to get that piece of me back, another would be taken that's just as important to me. Still, I knew that she wouldn't kill me, and I'd have to be able to go forward with my burden whether I liked it or not.

Then, the world dissolved without Styx saying a word. There was a dim light, as though those stage lights were just barely illuminating the stage, and the shadows began to part. The others of the Argo II were still in their frozen positions, but everything was still tainted black. If I didn't know any better, I'd think this was just a dream or 3-D image. It was deathly quiet, but then a breeze began to pick up, and wisps of darkness began to form from the numerous shadows, though the others still didn't react to it still. The dark smoke began to thicken, swirling around me until I was surrounded by a whirlwind of blackness, and Styx's voice echoed through my head, vibrating me to the core.

" _Your punishment is to live. You will survive and know that all your actions in life will be your own, and you will hold the responsibility for them. You will be given power, the power to change things and act when you wish, the freedom of choice you lacked previous. You have been condemned to the fate of responsibility. Anything and everything that happens will be your fault, because you had the opportunity to make things different. No matter what you do and what happens, there will always be something you could've done. The only pain you will feel, shall come from your own penance. The only shackles that now bind you, will be the ones you place upon yourself._ "

The funnel of darkness closed in upon me, before I felt it seeping through my skin and sinking into my bones. It felt cold and heavy, as though my body was turning to lead, and I fell to my knees. I breathed in the dark mist, and it felt like a breath of icy cold air that both felt nice and chilling. My vision went black, and my skin seemed to be covered in a sheet of darkness. It was changing me, I realized, though I didn't know what exactly it was doing. Oddly enough, it felt kinda nice after a while, and I began to warm up once more, though quite possibly that was just the cold overwhelming me and tricking me into thinking its become heat. There was still a heavy feeling within me, but I felt numb to it, and it actually felt nice too. I felt weighed down by an inescapable force, but at the same time, I had never felt freer.

" _Onesan?_ " I felt my brother's hand on my shoulder, and realized the darkness had become nothing but my own closed eyes. I opened them to see my bow on the deck in front of me, absorbing the black wisps of smoke until it was revealed to have darkened from gray to obsidian black. The gems now sparkled in mere tiny twinkles that could only be seen at certain angles, making them look much more few and far between than before, like stars on a midnight black sky. There was a light green glow, but I didn't know where it was coming from. It wasn't from the bow, but it didn't seem to be coming from behind me or to my sides.

" _Onesan…?_ " Kaze asked hesitantly. I looked to him, and his face was illuminated with the same green light. He dug through his pockets before handing me a compact mirror. I took it (ignoring the fact that he, for some reason, had a compact mirror in his pocket) and saw my own reflection. My eyes were glowing light green with power, and Styx's words rang through my head: " _You will be given power, the power to change things and act when you wish, the freedom of choice you lacked previous. You have been condemned to the fate of responsibility_." The glow dimmed before my eyes faded back to their normal brown color.

" _Onesan, what happened? Were you punished for using the bow? Are you okay? What was that with your eyes? Are you allowed to use a bow now?_ "

" _I think so, Kaze-kun. Styx, she…she I'm not sure, really. She said I was condemned to the fate of responsibility._ "

" _What's that mean?_ "

" _It…I think it means I'm free to make my own choices no matter what I know. The Fates won't try and stop me from telling of things I otherwise shouldn't, and I have some kind of power to change things._ "

" _Like the color of your eyes?_ " I smiled.

" _Maybe._ " Suddenly, I jumped up. " _Where are the others?_ " He shook his head.

" _I don't know. Everyone who jumped ship is gone._ " I stood, grabbing my bow. For the first time in years, I was no longer repelled by the bow's touch. Quite the opposite, I was  _compelled_  by it, to keep contact with it, keep it with me forever and use it whenever I had the chance. I slung it over myself, cross-body, clipping the riser to my belt so it didn't jostle around too much, and then ran to the railing of the ship. The ocean was dark, and there was no immediate sign of anyone. Who had gone overboard? Frank first, then Audrey after him. Leo and Hazel, and then…Veon. A panic surged through me, and Styx's words echoed through my head over and over. " _There will always be something you could've done._ " Without much thought, I dived over the railing and into the deep to find him.


	23. Bythos, Aphros, Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

First Person: Zytaveon

The last thing I remembered was a green Chiron. I had grabbed Hazel and Leo, after diving into the water, but they'd sank pretty deep, and being in the water impeded my lance's strength, not because Poseidon and Hades had a feud or anything, but because of science. The water was denser than air, so it had to pull with more force, basically decreasing its carrying capacity to maybe one if you wanted to get anywhere at a decent speed. Leo and Hazel had already been under for too long, and they were on the verge of passing out when I found them, so no way were we going to make it to the surface without them passing out. I could only hope that they didn't have some kind of brain damage from it.

Then, a strange face hovered over to us - a man who looked a lot like Chiron, the trainer back at Camp Half-Blood. He had the same curly hair, shaggy beard, and intelligent eyes - a look somewhere between wild hippie and fatherly professor, except this man's skin was the color of a lima bean. He held up a dagger, his expression grim and reproach, as if to say: " _Sorry, bud, but I have to kill you now._ " At that point,  _I_  was running out of air before I could even realize it, and the next thing I knew, I blacked out.

When I woke up, I almost thought I was a ghost in the Underworld, or my father had summoned me to talk again, because I was floating weightlessly. Nope, still in the world of the living, and I was fully awake. The room I was in had very dim light, but a side effect of being a son of Hades was that I could see pretty well in extremely dark light. I turned vertical to realize I was underwater, in a cave about the size of a two-car garage. Phosphorescent moss covered the ceiling, bathing the room in a blue-and-green glow. The floor was a carpet of urchins, and I was glad I was floating since they did  _not_  seem like they'd be very comfortable to walk on. The only exit to the cave was blocked by a massive abalone shell - its surface glistening in pearl and rose and turquoise. I didn't see Audrey around, so I didn't understand my breathing with no air.

Frank levitated nearby in a meditation position. With his chubby face and his grumpy expression, he looked like a Buddha who'd achieved enlightenment and wasn't thrilled about it. Zy was laying on her back as she floated in the water with her hands behind her head, as though she was relaxing, or bored. Kaze was swimming around the area, chasing after a little robotic hippocampus, which must've been a transformation of his robotic cat.

" _Neko~! Come back!_ " The little hippocampus just clicked, beeped, and waved its tail mockingly before speeding away, staying just out of Kaze's reach. It was actually a kind of cute scene. Leo groaned before opening his eyes, blinking to adjust to the dim lighting of the room before drifting upright.

"Hey, you're up," Zy said, turning vertical. Her voice had a lot of reverb, like she was speaking through several layers of plastic.

"About time," Frank muttered.

"What the heck happened?" I asked.

"Long story. I jumped into the water when you guys didn't resurface, and Kaze consequently followed me. We found you being kidnapped by a bunch of green Chiron-hippocampi and were taken with you guys here. I don't think they're hostile, at least not yet. Most likely, they're wondering why we were attacked by a giant Shrimpzilla and if we mean them any harm. Audrey and Hazel were with us, but they left about an hour ago." No one looked injured, but I realized that everyone was disarmed. Zy's belt and all its components were gone, Frank didn't have his bow or quiver, I didn't have my lance, sword or shield, and Leo patted his waist to find that his tool belt was gone as well.

"They searched us," Frank explained. "Took anything that could be a weapon."

"They didn't take Kaze's jacket," Zy said. "That's why he's got Neko."

"Neko?" I asked. She pointed.

"His robot hippocampus. I doubt Neko is a very dangerous weapon, and at best he could give you a cigarette burn, but still. Most of the things in Kaze's pockets at the moment are just trinkets, nothing that might get us out of here. Granted, with Kaze's ingenuity and ability to will locks open, he may be enough to get us out of here if he really tried, but we don't want to seem like we want to escape. We should try and lay low, not seem hostile. You follow?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Who did this?" Leo asked. "Green Chiron guys?"

"His relatives that the Nereids told Percy and Audrey about, I believe," Zy said. "Their location is pretty well guarded, so they must be understandably weary around us."

"The shrimp monster," Leo said. "The Argo II - is the ship okay?"

"I don't know," Frank said darkly. "The others might be in trouble or hurt, or…or worse. But I guess you care more about your ship than your friends." Leo looked like he'd been punched in the face.

"What kind of stupid thing…?" He began before cutting himself off. I suppose we haven't had the chance to explain what happened. Hedge had made that stupid comment about Leo and Hazel holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes, when that was actually just the result of the flashback. It probably hadn't helped that Leo was the reason Frank got knocked overboard right afterward.

"Frank," Zy said. "The crew was implied as well. Besides, if the ship is damaged too much then the others would be in trouble by default. And if the ship is beyond repair, then that means we couldn't continue the quest." Kaze said something, having caught his little hippocampus. Really, it looked more like Neko had given up, because he was swimming at Kaze's side rather than in Kaze's hands held hostage or something. "Ah, well Neko says he can sense a signal sent out from Festus. That means the ship is intact." Neko clicked some things and Kaze relayed a translation. "The ship's in bad shape, but still afloat, and the crew seems to be all right, if a bit battered and worried."

"Look, man…I'm sorry I got us into this mess," Leo said. "I totally jacked things up." He took a deep breath. "Me and Hazel holding hands…it's not what you think. She was showing me this flashback from her past, trying to figure out my connection with Sammy." Frank's angry expression started to unknot, replaced by curiosity.

"Did she…did you figure it out?"

"Yeah. Well, sort of. We didn't get a chance to talk about it afterward because of Shrimpzilla, but Sammy was my great-grandfather." He and I told Frank what we'd seen. Leo began to make connections, realizing that the truth may have been clear if they'd just thought about it a little more. His grandfather had been referred to as Sam Junior, meaning Sam Senior was Sammy Valdez. His aunt that turned out to be Hera, Tía Callida, had to have been that Doña Callida woman that told Sammy Hazel's great danger wasn't within his lifetime, consoling him and giving him a glimpse of the future. That meant Hera had been shaping Leo's life generations before he was even born. It also made us realize that if Hazel had stayed in the 1940s, if she'd married Sammy, Leo might've been her great-grandson.

"Oh man," Leo said when we'd finished the story. "I don't feel so good. But I swear on the Styx, that's what we saw." Frank had the same expression as the monster catfish head - wide glassy eyes and an open mouth.

"Hazel…Hazel liked your  _great-grandfather?_  That's why she likes you?"

"Frank, I know this is weird.  _Believe_  me. But I don't like Hazel - not  _that_  way. I'm not moving in on your girl." Frank knit his eyebrows.

"No?"

"I see them more as brother and sister," I said.

Leo seemed to be lost in thought probably thinking about the others on the ship. What Frank said about Leo caring only for the ship and not his friends wasn't true, and I know Frank was just angry and didn't mean it. Leo was a Hephaestus kid, so he got along with machines more than people (or any organic life forms, really), and Hephaestus was the same way. Still, Leo cared for the others, and his friends, even Frank, were his family. He just wasn't used to having a family. The kids at Camp Half-Blood were what you may expect; they were great, and they knew him best, but were they family? Sure, they shared a godly parent, but they didn't have that special bond, the kind of thing where you knew them really well, talked over things lightheartedly, had lots of special memories to think and talk about.

Zy and Kaze didn't share a parent, but they were a brother and sister if I'd ever seen one, and it was because of all the time they'd shared together, admitting their feelings, bonding over things, making memories that they could look back on, and that belonged to them and them alone. Going on a quest with all the members of the Argo II made them feel like family to me, and fulfilled those requirements for the bond we had. Even just these past few days of getting close, the seven of the prophecy had fulfilled those requirements as well. Maybe if we'd spent more time at camp and didn't have an Argo II to build, Leo might've made that connection to his siblings as well, but all in all, Leo was perfectly capable of caring for his friends. He just had an easier time with machines.

"Right, so…" Leo looked around. "What's the plan here? How are we breathing? If we're under the ocean, shouldn't we be crushed by the water pressure?" Frank shrugged.

"Fish-horse magic, I guess. I remember the green guy touching my head with the point of a dagger, and then I could breathe."

" _Fish-horse-man go tap, and gasp!_ " Kaze said, floating upside down and tapping his head before throwing his arms out dramatically. " _I can breathe, just like that!_ " Neko was floating upside down beside him, and made a rapid clicking noise like a gasp while throwing his little horse legs out in awe. He ended up falling to be upright again and shook his head from the sudden spin, making a mechanical horse whinny.

"Yeah, that's basically what happened," Zy agreed. Leo studied the abalone door.

"Can't someone bust us out? Turn into a hammerhead shark, or super-strength the door off, or blast it open, or get some Kako to help us?" Frank shook his head glumly.

"My shape-shifting doesn't work. I don't know why. Maybe they cursed me, or maybe I'm too messed up to focus."

"We don't want to seem hostile," Zy said. "Making peace with these guys seems better than making war."

"But if they  _are_  hostile, Hazel and Audrey could be out there and in trouble and we wouldn't be able to help."

"Well…I guess you have a point. But…" Leo swam to the door and ran his fingers along the abalone. There didn't seem to be any latches or otherwise.

" _I've tried everything,_ " Kaze said, and Zy translated to Leo. " _The door most likely can only be opened my magic or sheer force, the latter of which I've tried as well._ "

"Even if we were to get out, we don't have any weapons except for a little laser-hippocampus," I pointed out. "I'm not sure my Kako will be of much use in the water, unless we wanted to barricade ourselves in some kind of tar fort, Zy's powers must still be weakened, and Kaze's speed may be impeded while in the water."

"Hm…" Leo held up his hand. "I wonder…" He concentrated, and fire flickered over his fingers.

"Uh…Leo?" Zy began. "You might not want to-" The fire began racing up his arm and over his body until he was completely shrouded in a thin veil of flame. He tried to breathe, but he was just inhaling pure heat.

"Leo!" Frank shouted, flailing backward like he was falling off a bar stool. Instead of racing to Leo's aid, he hugged the wall to get as far away as possible. Zy rushed over and batted the flames with her hands, and most likely the only thing that prevented her from being burnt was her immunity to electricity and to an extension, extreme heat.

"Leo, Leo listen to me. You have to stay calm. Calm your thoughts. I'd say take a deep breath but…yeah. The fire won't hurt you. Stop summoning fire. Think of water. You're surrounded by it. A cool breeze. Ice. Cold stuff." Kaze aimed his arms at Leo before spinning them in a circular motion at speed, creating a funnel of water and bubbles that engulfed Leo and Zy.

"Kaze!" Zy called. He stopped and we saw that the flames had died. Well, that's one way to do it. After a count of five, Leo took a shallow breath. He had oxygen again. Frank stopped trying to merge with the cave wall and relaxed slightly.

"You're…you're okay?"

"Yeah," Leo grumbled. "Thanks for the assist."

"I…I'm sorry." Frank looked so horrified and ashamed, it was hard to be mad at him, especially considering his condition. "I just…what happened?"

"Clever magic," Zy said. "There's a thin layer of oxygen around us, like an extra skin. It's self-regenerating. That's how we're breathing and staying dry. Audrey has the ability to create and sustain these things if she focuses. The oxygen gave the fire fuel, except the fire also suffocated you, Leo. The layer of oxygen is extremely thin, and so to sustain a fire, it had to spread across the entire oxygen layer around you."

"I really don't…" Frank gulped. "I don't like that fire summoning you do." He started getting comfortable with the wall again.

"Frank…?" I asked. "You know…I mean…do you…?" I didn't want to push Frank beyond his limits, and I didn't want to influence him into something he didn't actually want, but Leo wasn't going to hurt him, he wasn't gonna laugh, and he'd be more careful with his fire if he knew. Leo let out a laugh.

"Man, I'm not going to attack you."

"Fire," Frank repeated. Leo seemed to realize that Frank must've had some bad experience with fire, and having had his own bad memory with fire…well, he could understand. His mom had died in a fire that was started by him, even if it was Gaea that manipulated it. Leo had been blamed for it and ostracized by his family thanks to his Aunt Rosa. He'd grown up being called a freak, an arsonist, because whenever he got angry, things burned.

"Sorry I laughed," Leo said, and I knew he meant it. "My mom died in a fire. I understand being afraid of it. Did, uh…did something like that happen to you?" Frank seemed to be weighing whether or not to confess.

"My house…my grandmother's place. It burned down. But it's more than that…" He stared at the urchins on the floor. "Annabeth said I could trust the crew. Even you."

"We trust all of you," Zy said. "All of you should be able to trust each other if you want to be a team. You should…all and be a bit more open, you know? We need to know things in case of an emergency. Kaze's a bit of a troublemaker, so it's hard to trust him, but he's trying. It's not his fault he was born the son of a troublemaker and became one himself. You can trust the entire crew, Frank."

"Even me, huh?" Leo asked. "Wow, high praise."

"My weakness…" Frank started, like the words cut his mouth. "There's this piece of firewood-" He was interrupted as the abalone door rolled open. Kaze's little robotic hippocampus instantly bolted into his owner's inner jacket pocket, slightly peaking its head out to see.

Leo turned and found himself face-to-face with the lima bean Chiron hippocampus that Zy mentioned. From the waist up, he was more or less human - a thin, bare-chested dude with a dagger in his belt and a band of seashells strapped across his chest like a bandolier. His skin was green, his beard scraggly brown, and his longish hair was tied back in a seaweed bandana. A pair of lobster claws stuck up from his head like horns, turning and snapping at random. From the waist down, he was a bit more complicated. He had the forelegs of a blue-green horse, sort of like a centaur, but toward the back, his horse body morphed into a long fishy tail about ten feet long, with a rainbow-colored, V-shaped tailfin. He  _did_  look like a hippocampus-man, or a water version of a centaur.

"I am Bythos," The green man said. "I will interrogate Frank Zhang." His voice was calm and firm, leaving no room for debate. I'd had to practice that voice for a while when I was working in the Underworld to get people to obey and respect me.

"Why did you capture us?" Leo demanded. "Where's Hazel?" Bythos narrowed his eyes. His expression seemed to say, " _Did this tiny creature just talk to me?_ "

"Leo, don't challenge them," Zy said.

"You, Leo Valdez, will go with my brother."

"Your brother?" Leo repeated. Leo seemed to just realize that a much larger figure was looming behind Bythos, with a shadow so wide, it filled the entire cave entrance.

"Yes," Bythos said with a dry smile. "Try not to make Aphros mad." Aphros looked like his brother, except he was blue and much, much bigger. He had Arnold-as-Terminator abs and arms, and a square, brutish head. A huge Conan-approved sword was strapped across his back. Even his hair was bigger - a massive globe of blue-black frizz so thick that his lobster claw horns appeared to be drowning as they tried to swim their way to the surface.

"Don't aggravate him, please," Zy said, before pushing Leo forward.

" _Where's he going?_ " Kaze asked. " _Are they evil? Do we attack?_ "

"Who can understand him?" Bythos asked. Zy and I both raised our hands. "Perfect. You will be escorted by these three."

We were taken by another group of hippocampi-men, who I was just going to refer to as Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, since they didn't offer their actual names, and it stayed on theme with Bythos and Aphros. They weren't much different from the first two, varying shades of green and blue (grue, if you want) and armed with weapons. Leo was taken by Aphros along with us until we reached a massive forest of kelp, where he was taken in another direction and we lost him.

Zy convinced Kaze that we weren't escaping, and that he shouldn't try and dash out into the kelp. Kaze may be fast, but he's out of his element, and the three hippocampi-men would be much faster than him and skilled. They know this kelp forest too, and Kaze would easily get lost and cornered. Plus, it would be best not to aggravate these guys as we were all split up. We drifted between rows of kelp as tall as apartment buildings, the green-and-yellow plants swaying weightlessly, like columns of helium balloons.

High above, I saw a smudge of white that might have been the sun. That meant we'd have to have been here overnight. That meant the crew had either left without us, or worse, they'd wasted all these hours that could've been used to go and save Nico to search for us. Based on the fact that plants were able to grow here, that meant we couldn't be too far underwater, right? Bolting for the surface wasn't an option, both because it's best to go along with things, but also because I'd heard about people who ascended too quickly and developed nitrogen bubbles in their blood. A cool thing in theory, but not something that I want happening to me or anyone else. I, personally, do  _not_  want carbonated blood if I can avoid it.

"So, what exactly are you guys?" I asked.

"Ichthyocentaurs," Logos said, like it was a question he was tired of answering.

"Cool word," I muttered.

"We are fish centaurs," Ethos elaborated. "We are the half brothers of Chiron."

"I thought so," Zy said. "He's a friend of ours, and these Nereids told us to seek you out for help."

"That's what the ones called Hazel and Audrey have told us, but we shall determine the truth," Pathos said. "Come."

We swam for maybe half a mile, and Kaze was getting bored, fiddling with Neko in sphere-mode while he swam, while also making sure Ethos, Pathos, and Logos couldn't see him doing so. When the kelp forest finally opened up, he shoved Neko into his pocket once more. We were swimming at the summit of a high underwater hill, and below us stretched an entire town of Greek-style buildings on the sea floor. The roofs were tiled with mother-of-pearl, the gardens were filled with coral and sea anemones. Hippocampi grazed in a field of seaweed, a team of Cyclopes was placing the domed roof on a new temple, using a blue whale as a crane, and swimming through the streets, hanging out in the courtyards practicing combat with tridents and swords in the arena, were dozens of mermen and mermaids - honest-to-goodness fish-people.

Now, there were a lot of things in this world that I'd learned to believe in, creatures of all kinds, so this was only half shocking to me. Like many other things that I've come to realize existed in real life, these didn't look exactly like what Disney has us to believe. Even from a distance, they looked fierce and not at all human. Their eyes glowed yellow, they had shark-like teeth, and their skin was leathery in colors ranging from coral red to ink black.

"A training camp?" I realized. "You train heroes, the same way Chiron does?" Pathos looked at me, a glint of pride in his eyes.

"We have trained all the famous mer-heroes! Name a mer-hero, and we have trained him or her!"

"Like Triton, Glaucus, Weissmuller, and Bill!" Logos added. I read up a bit on mer-heroes, but as Poseidon wasn't my father, I didn't know anyone except Triton. I bet Audrey might recognize the names, granted there had to be a lot of Bills in the world, that is, people named Bill, not bills. Although there are probably a lot of those in the world too. Moving on.

"Uh, you trained Bill? Impressive."

"Indeed," Ethos said. "Aphros trained Bill himself. A great merman. Everyone believes that Aphros trains combat, but really he teaches music and poetry."

"My kinda guy," Zy said.

"Bythos is the one that teaches combat, but Aphros teaches things like life skills," Logos added. "Homemaking. These are very important for heroes."

"Sewing? Baking?"

"He would be happy to know someone understands," Pathos said. "Perhaps if you survive, Aphros would share his brownie recipe."

"Ooo, we are  _totally_  surviving for brownies," Zy said. " _We get brownies if we survive, Kaze-kun._ "

" _Yea!_ "

"He loves brownies," She explained. "Or really  _any_  sweets. He prefers soft things though, so soft cookies over hard ones, for example."

"What's this camp called?" I asked Logos.

"This is Camp-" He made a sound that was a series of sonar pings and hisses.

"Oh. Silly me."

" _When do we get brownies?_ " Kaze asked.

"So when are we deemed brownie worthy?" Zy translated.

"The two of you turn in opposite directions, and let this one tell me your story," Ethos ordered. "Translate what he says at the same time, so I know you're not making things up." Zy relayed the instruction to Kaze before she and I turned to opposite directions away from Kaze. He began to explain growing up as an orphan since he was little, meeting Zy in the orphanage, and then living with her on their own. He explained dying, and then coming back with the intention of seeing his sister again, before joining the group on the Argo II.

They asked for our stories next, and so I told them my story about being a son of Hades and learning about my powers and such, learning my friends were demigods too (though they knew about me and each other before I knew about them; still don't know why they didn't tell me) and then going on the two quests, along with working for my father in the Underworld. Zy explained growing up an orphan, running away with Kaze before he died and a goddess came to her, and how she had this big weight of keeping the goddess alive and safe while searching for her husband. She explained how she was trying to make up for losing her brother, especially now that he'd been given a second chance. They seemed pretty interested in both of our stories, as they'd never met descendents of Zeus and Hades like us, especially Hades.

We explained the Prophecy of Seven and our group's goal to reach Greece and defeat the giants before Gaea woke. We explained the eidolons, the problem with the Romans, and all the troubles the Argo II had encountered crossing the United States. I explained how we were under a time limit to find my brother Nico, and how we needed to find some Mark of Athena. Zy explained that she needed to go to Rome in search of the goddess's husband, as she'd been informed that there'd be a way to find him there. I hadn't heard of that before, but I guess it made sense. She and I would try and pass some trials there and we'd find Zyanya's husband, I figured. Once we finished our fight in Charleston, the three Ichthyocentaurs seemed satisfied. They looked to each other for only a moment before nodding in unison. They were like the underwater version of the trio of judges back in the Underworld, though they seemed a lot nicer, and greener.

"Very well," Pathos said. "We believe you."

"Really? Just like that?" I asked.

"We are quite good at discerning lies," Logos explained. "We hear none from any of you. Your story also fits with what Hazel Levesque and Audrey Mavepo have told us."

"Where are they?"

"They are fine," Ethos assured us. He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled, which sounded strange underwater - like a dolphin screaming. "Our people will bring them here shortly. You must understand…our location us a carefully guarded secret. You and your friends showed up in a warship, pursued by one of Keto's sea monsters. We did not know whose side you were on." Zy nodded in approval and understanding.

"Yeah, I figured. We understand."

"How's the ship?" I asked.

"Damaged, but not terribly," Logos said. "The skolopendra withdrew after it got a mouthful of Greek fire. Nice touch."

"That was Leo's thoughtfulness. And we all thought he was crazy for bringing Greek fire with him on the ship. I mean, he  _was_ , but point stands."

"Skolopendra," Zy muttered. "It rings a bell, though I don't think I have memory of encountering it for a long time."

"They are nasty creatures," Pathos said. "Keto must really hate you. At any rate, we rescued you and the others as the creature retreated into the deep."

"Your friends are still above, searching for you," Logos said. "But we have obscured their vision. We had to be sure you were not a threat. Otherwise, we would have had to…take measures." I had a feeling that "taking measures" didn't mean baking extra brownies. If these guys were powerful enough that they could keep their camp hidden from Percy and his Poseidon powers, they were not fish dudes to be messed with.

"So…are we allowed to go?" I asked.

"Soon," Ethos promised. "We must check with Bythos and Aphros. When they are done talking to your friends Leo and Gank-"

"Frank."

"Frank. When they are done, we will send you back to your ship. And we may have some warnings for you."

"Warnings?"

"Ah." Aphros pointed. Audrey emerged from the kelp forest, escorted by two mermaids. The three of them were singing with melodies voices, and oddly enough it was beginning to get hard to think. And it wasn't even like the song they were singing was enchanting. It was  _This is Gospel_  by Panic! At the Disco, for crying out loud. It was catchy, but not as enchanting as they were making it.

"Hey!" Audrey called as she swam over. "Sing along with me!

" _If you love me let me go~!_  
" _If you love me let me go~!_  
" _Cause these words are knives that often leave scars_ ,  
" _The fear of falling apart_ ,  
" _And truth be told, I never was yours_ ,  
" _The fear, the fear of falling apart!_ "

Zy was happy to join in, and it was hard to resist the song.

" _This is gospel for the vagabonds_ ,  
" _Ne'er-do-wells, insufferable bastards_ ,  
" _Confessing their apostasies_ ,  
" _Led away by imperfect impostors_."

Audrey's new mer-friends sang backup, one handling all of the oh-s and the other handing the " _This is the beat of my heart_ "-s. Once we'd finished the song, her mer-friends left us, and even Ethos, Pathos and Logos left us alone at the ridge, which must've meant they really did trust us. While they went off to fetch the others, Audrey explained that those mermaids had been studying siren singing and had taught Audrey a bit of using her voice through the water.

"I mean it only works with water, so in the air, I'm just a normal singer, but I can use the water like speakers too. Hey, Leo and Hazel!" We swam over to them and found out that Leo had been left by Aphros as well, having gained his Itcthyocentaur's trust as well. Apparently, Aphros had also knitted while he'd told his story. Hazel had had mermaids like Audrey, who'd warmed up to her just as fast. The Itcthyocentaurs had been fascinated by her story, as they had never met a child of Pluto before. On top of that, they had heard many legends about the horse Arion, and they were amazed that Hazel had befriended him. Hazel had promised to visit with Arion, and bring me along with Zoltan. The mermaids had written their phone numbers on the girls' arms in waterproof ink. How they got cell-phone coverage in the middle of the Atlantic? Who knows?

Leo and Hazel had discussed what happened with Frank, about clearing things up with the whole hand-holding-gazing-into-each-other's-eyes thing, along with Leo learning Frank's weakness lies in a small nub of firewood. Frank had chosen Hazel to hold his life in her hands, and it made me realize that Frank didn't hate/fear Leo just because he looked like Hazel's old crush. He could summon fire at will, and he seemed to be moving in on Hazel, the one who held his lifeline - his entire fate. No wonder Frank had been so uneasy and angry. Having your life be connected to a piece of firewood might not seem so bad at first, since all you have to do is hide it somewhere, but in reality, Frank's life was extremely fragile, especially now that his firewood was so small.

No one was able to say it aloud, but the line of the Prophecy of Seven,  _To storm or fire the world must fall_ , had to mean Leo was the fire. Percy or Jason had to stand for storm - maybe both of them together. Zy and Audrey didn't count because they weren't a part of the seven, but still, a storm or fire was going to make the fall of the world, and Leo must've been worried that he was going to be the one to screw something up and result in the fall of the world. Being optimistic, the fall of the world could translate to the fall of the earth - Gaea. One never knew when it came to prophecies.

"There you are!" Bythos called. Bythos and Aphros floated over with Frank between them, looking pale but okay. "You are free to go." Bythos opened his saddlebags and returned our confiscated supplies. Leo looked euphoric to have his tool belt back. Zy put on her belt with the bag at her right hip, slipped her guns in their holsters at the back, snapped her quiver on between her bag at the right and her guns, and slung the bow I'd given her (was it just me, or was it a different color?) over her cross-body before snapping the riser on at the left between her guns and her left hip where her sword could be (though it wasn't summoned at the time so it wasn't there). Audrey and I got our cuffs with shields, trident/lance, and our swords back. Kaze got a cylinder that expanded into his shuriken, and Neko swam out of his pocket to wave hello now that he was allowed to be seen.

"Tell Percy Jackson not to worry," Aphros said. "We have understood your story about the imprisoned sea creatures in Atlanta. Keto and Phorcys must be stopped. We will send a quest of mer-heroes to defeat them and free their captives. Perhaps Cyrus?"

"Or Bill," Bythos offered.

"Yes! Bill would be perfect," Aphros agreed. "At any rate, we are grateful that Audrey and Percy brought this to our attention."

"You should talk to Percy in person," Leo suggested. "I mean, son of Poseidon and all." Both fish-centaurs shook their heads solemnly.

"Sometimes, it is best not to interact with too much of Poseidon's brood," Aphros said. "We are friendly with the sea god, of course, but the politics of undersea deities is…complicated. And we value our independence. Nevertheless, tell Percy thank you. We will do what we can to speed you safely across the Atlantic without further interference from Keto's monsters, but be warned: in the ancient sea, the Mare Nostrum, more dangers await." Frank sighed.

"Naturally." Bythos clapped the big guy on the shoulder.

"You will be fine, Frank Zhang. Keep practicing those sea life transformations. The koi fish is good, but try for a Portuguese man-of-war. Remember what I showed you. It's all in the breathing." Frank looked mortally embarrassed.

"Transformations are mostly about concentration," Zy said. "As they say, "keep calm and carry on." You just need to work on keeping your focus. Like Neko." She pointed a thumb at the robot who had transformed his tail into a propeller, spitting bubbles in Kaze's face before fleeing.

"And you, Hazel and Veon," Aphros said. "Come visit again, and bring those horses of yours! I know you are concerned with the time you lost, spending the night in our realm. You are worried about your brother, Nico…" Hazel gripped her cavalry sword.

"Is he…do you know where he is?" Aphros shook his head.

"Not exactly. But when you get closer, you should be able to sense his presence. Never fear! You must reach Rome the day after tomorrow if you are to save him, but there is still time. And you  _must_  save him."

"Yes," Bythos agreed. "He will be essential for your journey. I am not sure how, but I sense it is true." Aphros planted his hand on Leo's shoulder.

"As for you, Leo Valdez, stay close to Hazel and Frank when you reach Rome. I sense they will face, ah… _mechanical_  difficulties that only you can overcome."

"Mechanical difficulties?" Leo asked.

"And you three should stay with this lady over here," He said, motioning to me, Audrey and Kaze then Zy. "Don't let her think she's ever alone." Then, Aphros smiled. "And I have gifts for you, the brave navigator and warriors of the Argo II!"

"I like to think of myself as captain," Leo said. "Or supreme commander."

"Brownies!" Aphros said proudly, holding up an old-fashioned picnic basket.

" _Burauni_!" Kaze said excitedly, which was basically "brownie" said with his heavy Japanese accent. He snatched up the basket, which was surrounded by a bubble of air that protected the brownies from turning into saltwater fudge sludge.

" _Kaze! Don't eat them all!_ " Zy ordered, taking the basket from him. She took out one brownie that stayed in its own small bubble of air and he snatched it up and popped it in his mouth happily.

"In the basket, you will also find the recipe," Aphros said. "Not too much butter! That's the trick."

"Awesome," Zy said.

"And I've given you a letter of introduction to Tiberinus, the god of the Tiber River. Once you reach Rome, your friend, the daughter of Athena, will need this."

"Annabeth…" Audrey said. "Okay, but why?" Bythos laughed.

"She follows the Mark of Athena, doesn't she? Tiberinus can guide her in this quest. He's an ancient, proud god who can be…difficult. But letters of introduction are everything to Roman spirits. This will convince Tiberinus to help her. Hopefully."

"Hopefully," Leo repeated. Bythos produced a handful of small pink pearls from his saddlebags.

"And now, off with you, demigods! Good sailing!" He threw a pearl at each of us in turn, and shimmering pink bubbles of energy formed around us. We began to rise through the water before they gained speed and rocketed toward the distant glow of the sun above.


	24. An Uneventful Day (Thank Goodness)

First Person: Emily

After Shrimpzilla had sunk into the deep and disappeared along with our friends, Annabeth, Coach Hedge, and Buford the table rushed around repairing things so that the ship wouldn't sink. Percy, despite being exhausted, searched the ocean for our missing friends. Jason, also exhausted, flew around the rigging like a blond Peter Pan, putting out fires from the second green explosion that had lit up the sky just above the mainmast.

As for Piper, she stared at her knife desperately trying to find them. The only visions she saw were the ones she didn't want to see: three black SUVs driving north from Charleston, packed with Roman demigods, Reyna sitting at the wheel of the lead car. Giant eagles escorted them from above. Every so often, glowing purple spirits in ghostly chariots appeared out of the countryside and fell in behind them, thundering up I-95 toward New York and Camp Half-Blood. She tried concentrating harder, but only saw the nightmarish images she had seen before: the human-headed bull rising from the water, then the dark well-shaped room filling with black water as Jason, Percy, Audrey, and she struggled to stay afloat.

"Piper, that's enough," I said, and she sighed before sheathing Katoptris. "They're going to be fine. If Zy and Audrey went down to save them, then it's unlikely that they're dead."

"But what if they're trapped somewhere, like they were kidnapped underwater or something? And if Percy can't find them, then it means something bad." Festus creaked something, but none of us could understand what he was saying. Maybe Festus is getting some kind of signal from them. It could've been a distress signal, or it could've been a "we're fine" signal. I was going for the latter. I convinced the others to stay calm, but they refused to go to sleep.

By the time the sun rose, no one had gotten any rest. Percy had scoured the seafloor and found nothing. The Argo II was no longer in danger of sinking, though without Leo, we couldn't do full repairs. The ship was capable of sailing, but no one suggested leaving the area - not without our missing friends. I knew that Hazel and Veon would want us to continue on to Rome for Nico, as we were running out of time, but the worry that the remaining crew shared was firm. We weren't going to leave without them. With Zy, Veon,  _and_ Audrey down there, not to mention Kaze, I knew that they would protect Leo, Frank, and Hazel no matter what, and they just needed a little more time to figure things out and then get back to the surface.

Piper, Annabeth, and I sent a dream vision to Camp Half-Blood, warning Chiron of what had happened with the Romans at Fort Sumter. Annabeth and I explained the exchange with Reyna, and Piper relayed the vision from her knife about the SUVs racing north. The kindly centaur's face seemed to age thirty years during the course of our conversation, but he assured us he would see to the defenses of the camp, and that Zy had promised she'd send some help as well earlier. She didn't say what, but she promised on the Styx that Camp Half-Blood would not fall under her watch. Tyson, Mrs. O'Leary, and Ella had arrived safely. If necessary, Tyson could summon an army of Cyclopes to the camp's defense, and Ella and Rachel Dare were already comparing prophecies, trying to learn more about what the future held. The job of the seven demigods aboard the Argo II, Chiron reminded us, was to finish the quest and come back safely, and Zyanya's team had to make sure they did no matter what.

After the Iris-message, the demigods paced the deck in silence, staring at the water and hoping for a miracle. I could sense the tension ten-fold, or six-fold, really, since I could feel the combined worry of all the crew members, including myself. Everyone wanted to believe they were okay, and they wanted them to get back right now. They had to be back soon. We were having an inner conflict, of how much time we could possibly waste waiting for them. Nico still needed us, the Mark of Athena had to be followed soon, as Camp Half-Blood was running out of time, and we needed to stop Gaea and the giants in Greece. Every second we wasted, the more tension and concern grew within us.

Then, finally, a bunch of pink bubbles burst at the surface of the starboard bow, ejecting Frank, Hazel, Leo, Audrey, Veon, Zy, and Kaze, Zy holding a picnic basket. The entire group suddenly overwhelmed me with relief and excitement, but I wasn't complaining because that's how I felt as well. Piper was euphoric. She cried out with relief and dove straight into the water. She didn't bring a rope or a life vest or anything, but at the moment, she was too happy to care. She paddled over to Leo and kissed him on the cheek, which kind of surprised him.

"Miss me?" Leo laughed. Piper was suddenly furious.

"Where  _were_  you? How are you guys alive?"

"Long story," Veon said.

"Brownie?" Zy offered.

" _Burauni!_ " Kaze repeated excitedly, a little robotic hippocampus swimming around him with its little head peaking out of the water. It seemed to be just as happy as Kaze at the prospect of brownies, even though it most likely couldn't eat brownies.

Once Audrey raised them out of the water, hugs of relief were exchanged, and everyone changed into clean clothes (Frank borrowing a pair of pants from Veon; they were actually pretty close in size, so there wasn't much of a problem). The crew gathered on the quarterdeck for a celebratory breakfast - except for Coach Hedge, who grumbled that the atmosphere was getting too cuddly for his tastes and went below to hammer out some dents in the hull. While Leo fussed over his helm controls, Hazel, Frank, Zy and Veon related the story of the fish-centaurs and their training camp, with Zy translating Kaze's part. Kaze's hippocampus, Neko, had turned into a cat once it was on board again, and it was sitting on his shoulder, looking at another sphere his owner was fiddling with, which was probably going to be Neko's brother, and eating brownies like there was no tomorrow.

"Incredible," Jason said. "These are  _really_  good brownies."

"That's your only comment?" Piper demanded. He looked surprised.

"What? I heard the story. Fish-centaurs-"

"Ichthyocentaurs," Zy said. She said that every time someone said "fish-centaurs" since she was trying to teach everyone the official word.

"Mer-people, letter of intro to the Tiber River god. Got it. But these brownies-"

"I know," Frank said, his mouth full. "Try them with Esther's peach preserves."

"That is  _incredibly_  disgusting," Hazel said.

"Pass me the jar, man," Jason said. Hazel and Piper exchanged a look of total exasperation like " _Boys_."

" _Burauni!_ " Kaze said happily, his robotic cat raising its front paws in celebration like it was doing the wave.

"Gotta admit they're awesome," Veon said.

"Zy, you and I are making more of these the next chance we get," Audrey agreed. Percy, for his part, wanted to hear every detail about the aquatic camp. He kept coming back to the same point though.

"They didn't want to meet me?"

"It wasn't that," Hazel said. "Just…undersea politics, I guess. The mer-people are territorial."

"The only reason they saw me was because I came with Frank," Audrey said. "Plus, I was under supervision as well. I'm pretty sure those sirens thought I was a mer-person who had been cursed with legs or something. They were great singers though. They made  _This is Gospel_  sound mesmerizing. Anyway, the good news is they're taking care of that aquarium in Atlanta. And they'll help the Argo II as we across the Atlantic." Percy nodded absently.

"But they didn't want to meet me?" Annabeth swatted his arm.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain! We've got other things to worry about."

"She's right," Hazel said. "After today, Nico has less than two days. The fish-centaurs said we  _have_  to rescue him. He's essential to the quest somehow." She looked around defensively, as if waiting for someone to argue.

"I know," Veon said. "As we get closer to Rome, I can feel that we're getting closer to him. Every time he has to eat a pomegranate seed, his waking allows me a slight connection to him. It's freaking terrifying, and I'm not even there and fully connected to him." It wasn't hard for me to feel what Veon did. Even without that, I could easily imagine what Nico was feeling, stuck in a jar with only two pomegranate seeds left to sustain him, and no idea whether he would be rescued. His connection to his brother must make it so that he knows we're coming for him, but he must also be worried since he's no doubt being used as bait for us. Still, no matter what fate we faced, we were going to rescue him. I could feel everyone's resolve to do so, and Nico di Angelo was going to be saved.

"Nico must have information on the Doors of Death," Piper said. "We'll save him. We can make it in time. Right, Leo?"

"What?" Leo tore his eyes away from the controls. "Oh, yeah. We should reach the Mediterranean tomorrow morning, then spend the rest of that day sailing to Rome, or  _flying_ , if I can get the stabilizer fixed by then…" Jason suddenly looked as though his brownie with peach preserves didn't taste so good.

"Which will put us in Rome on the last possible day for Nico. Twenty-four hours to find him - at most." Percy crossed his legs.

"And that's only part of the problem. There's the Mark of Athena too." Annabeth didn't seem happy with the change of topic. She rested her hand on her backpack, which, since we'd left Charleston, she always seemed to have with her. She opened the bag and brought out a think bronze disk the diameter of a donut.

"This is the map that I found at Fort Sumter. It's…" She stopped abruptly, staring at the smooth bronze surface. "It's blank!" Percy took it and examined both sides.

"It wasn't like this earlier?"

"No! I was looking at it in my cabin and…" Annabeth muttered under her breath. "It must be like the Mark of Athena. I can only see it when I'm alone. It won't show itself to other demigods." Zy took the bronze disk and glared at it, as though it would be intimidated into showing its secrets. Then her eyes changed from brown to light green before glowing like there were little LEDs in her head.

"Interesting…" Frank scooted back like the disk might explode from the green light being shown on it. He had an orange-juice mustache and a brownie-crumb beard that made me want to hand him a napkin.

"What the-? Can you see what it has?" He asked nervously. "And what is the Mark of Athena? I still don't get it."

"It's hard to decipher, but it shows a spot on the Tiber River in Rome. I believe that's where Annabeth's quest will begin, the path she must take to follow the Mark." The glow in her eyes faded before her eyes turned back to brown and she passed the bronze disk back to Annabeth.

"Maybe that's where you meet the river god Tiberinus," I suggested.

"But what  _is_  the Mark?" Piper asked, agreeing with Frank.

"The coin," Annabeth murmured. Percy frowned.

"What coin?" Annabeth dug into her pocket and brought out her silver drachma.

"I've been carrying this ever since I saw my mom at Grand Central. It's an Athenian coin." She passed it around. Zy made sure she took it before Kaze could get his hands on it and passed it onward.

"An owl," Leo noted. "Well, that makes sense. I guess the branch is an olive branch? But what's this inscription, ΑΘΕ - Area Of Effect?"

"Alpha, Theta, Epsilon," Zy corrected. "In Greek, it stands for " _Of The Athenians_ ," or you could read it as " _The children of Athena_." It's sort of the Athenian motto."

"Like SPQR for Romans," I guessed. Annabeth nodded.

"Anyway, the Mark of Athena is an owl, just like that one. It appears in fiery red. I've seen it in my dreams. Then twice at Fort Sumter." She and I described what had happened at the fort - the voice of Gaea, the spiders in the garrison, the Mark burning them away. Percy took Annabeth's hand.

"I should have been there for you."

"But that's the point," Annabeth said. " _No one_  can be there for me. When I get to Rome, I'll have to strike out on my own. Otherwise, the Mark won't appear. I'll have to follow it to…to the source." Frank took the coin from Leo, staring at the owl.

"' _The giants' bane stands gold and pale, won with pain from a woven jail._ ' What is it…this thing at the source?"

"A statue," Jason interrupted before Annabeth could speak. "A statue of Athena. At least…that's my guess." Piper frowned.

"You said you didn't know."

"I  _don't_. But the more I think about it…there's only one artifact that could fit the legend." He turned to Annabeth. "I'm sorry. I should have told you everything I've heard, much earlier. But honestly, I was scared. If this legend is true-"

"I know," Annabeth said. "I figured it out, Jason. I don't blame you. But if we manage to save the statue, Greek and Romans together…don't you see?"

"If used properly, it could heal the rift," Zy said.

"Hold on," Percy said, making a  _time-out_  gesture. " _What_  statue?" Annabeth took back the silver coin and slipped it into her pocket.

"The Athena Parthenos," She said.

"The most famous Greek statue of all time," Zy continued. "It was forty feet tall, covered in ivory and gold. It stood in the middle of the Parthenon in Athens. Zyanya remembers it. The statue disappeared, one of the biggest mysteries in history. Some people thought the statue was melted down for its gold, or destroyed by invaders. Athens was sacked a number of times. Some thought the statue was carted off by Romans. To break the Greeks' spirits, the Romans carted off the Athena Parthenos when they took over the city of Athens. They hid it in an underground shrine in Rome. The Roman demigods swore it would never see the light of day. They literally  _stole_  Athena so she could no longer be the symbol of Greek military power. She became Minerva, a much tamer goddess, though she wasn't happy about it. Imagine being stolen from your home, forced to be someone else and then thrown to the sidelines when you were once a leader among the people, one people looked to for wisdom and power in battle. That would be like if someone else came along one day to replace you all in the Prophecy of Seven, thrown to the sidelines when you were told you were destined for greatness and promised you'd be able to make a difference in this war. Can you imagine how aggravating that would be?"

"The children of Athena have been searching for the statue ever since," Annabeth said. "Most don't know about the legend, but in each generation, a few are chosen by the goddess. They're given a coin like mine. They follow the Mark of Athena…a kind of magical trail that links them to the statue…hoping to find the resting place of the Athena Parthenos and get the statue back."

"So if we - I mean  _you_  - find the statue…" Percy began. "What would we do with it? Could we even  _move_ it?"

"I'm not sure," Annabeth admitted. "But if we could save it somehow, it could unite the two camps. It could heal my mother of this hatred she's got, tearing her two aspects apart. And maybe…maybe the statue has some sort of power that could help us against the giants." I admired the weight Annabeth had taken onto her shoulders, especially since she knew she had to do this alone.

"This could change everything," Piper muttered. "It could end thousands of years of hostility. It might be the key to defeating Gaea. But if we can't help you…" She didn't finish, yet the question seemed to hang in the air: " _Was saving the statue even possible?_ "

"We can help her now," I said. "We can prepare her, give her some supplies, get in some training maybe, give her all the information we can muster." Annabeth squared her shoulders, and I knew she was terrified inside, but did a good job of hiding it.

"I have to succeed," Annabeth said simply. "The risk is worth it." Hazel twirled her hair pensively.

"I don't like the idea of you risking your life alone, but you're right. We saw what recovering the golden eagle standard did for the Roman legion. If this statue is the most powerful symbol of Athena ever created-"

"It could kick some serious booty," Leo offered. Hazel frowned.

"That wasn't the way  _I'd_  put it, but yes."

"Except…" Percy said, taking Annabeth's hand again. "No child of Athena has  _ever_  found it. Annabeth, what's  _down_  there? What's guarding it? If it's got to do with spiders-?"

"' _Won through pain from a woven jail,_ '" Frank recalled. "Woven, like webs?" Annabeth's face turned as white as printer paper.

"Well, that either means she has to escape from a woven jail, or she has to somehow  _make_  a woven jail for her enemy, right?" Veon said. "Athena was a good weaver, right? I'd vote for the latter. Better make sure Annabeth has some string or something when she goes.

"It's going to work out," I promised the others, sending waves of calmness to sooth their nerves. "Annabeth is going to kick some serious booty. You'll see."

"Yeah," Percy said. "I learned a long time ago:  _Never_  bet against Annabeth."

"And don't bet against the Hermes kids," Zy said. "They  _always_  seem to win at poker. Even Kaze, and he doesn't know what poker is!"

" _Burauni?_ " Kaze asked, hearing his name. Smiles and a couple chuckles went out throughout the group as Kaze looked around in confusion, a brownie in his mouth. Not being able to understand the conversation, he was oblivious to the dark mood in the room (if everyone's half-eaten breakfasts were anything to go by), and he seemed to brighten things. His little cat Neko helped too, looking around with the same confusion. Though the cat wasn't capable of making many facial expressions, you could see the confusion on his face that mimicked Kaze.

"Well!" Leo said. "Good pep rally, but there's still a ton of things to fix on this ship before we get to the Mediterranean. Please report to Supreme Commander Leo for your super-fun list of chores!"

We spent the rest of the day working on the Argo II, cleaning up the mess left from the ship having tilted, and making repairs to the hull, oars, engines, etc. Veon's tar abilities patched up a bunch of holes, and he resolved to work on as much of the ship as possible to make it stronger and allow him to summon things from the tar when we had an attack. So, if the oars were knocked out of alignment again, for example, he could still summon a bunch of spikes or have the tar try and eat whatever attacked and turn it into more tar that he could command. Not to mention that he'll have the Kako available all over the ship to make quick repairs or hold the thing together. It was like we had a second crew made just for helping out with the ship. I wonder how we could pay them back for their hard work.

Zy worked to fix everything she could with some green magic, (Audrey said she had become like Maleficent), ordering Kaze to help as well. She said she didn't know much of how her powers worked, but that she simply needed to concentrate hard enough and things would happen at her command. She pointed or stared at objects, and they glowed with that green color before moving and doing things she ordered them too. Though it did strain her, she was learning pretty quickly. She explained that she'd made a promise on the Styx not to use a bow after her brother's death, to punish herself for letting her brother die. When she'd used the bow, Styx said that her punishment was responsibility, that she would have this power, and anything that went wrong would be her fault because she didn't do something about it. With all of us working with our powers, the ship was much better by the dinner bell.

Dinner wasn't much, but we tried to stay on the bright side of things. Kaze ate the rest of the brownies, apparently saying that working on the ship all day made him need a lot of calories, and Zy used the recipe to make the rest of us more, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed, especially Kaze. Zy had to mother him into eating a couple sandwiches as well, the whole "you only get dessert after you eat your dinner" thing. Other than that, dinner was uneventful, for the first time in a while, and it was better than a war meeting where we're thinking about all our problems and basically bringing everyone down. The threats of the world could wait until tomorrow. We've had enough for today, and another night came sooner than I expected, as this entire day was used to repair the ship. Let's have at least one night of peace before our hectic lives continue, I prayed.


	25. A Nightmarish Choice

First Person: Zytaveon

That night, I hoped that my dreams/nightmares were lightening up, considering I slept well last time (granted I nearly drowned in the process, but hey, I both survived  _and_  slept dreamless, so a guy can hope, right?), but, of course, that didn't happen.

I was in my mom's apartment this time. This is where my hope for a nice dream began. And, where that hope was quickly crushed to pieces. I stood in the kitchen, looking over to see my mom walking around in the living room area, which was just a couch, table, window, and an 18x10 inch TV. She was sitting on the couch, looking at a photo album sitting on the table. I couldn't see the photos from here, because she was sitting with her back to me, but she looked to be smiling at them.

" _Veon, come and look at these photos_." I instantly obeyed. I hurried past the kitchen counter and plopped down on the couch next to my mom. I was really little, maybe four or five, so I was a lot smaller than her and couldn't reach the table. She pulled the photo album into her lap, slightly draping the end over mine. She put an arm around me and pointed at a picture that my dad had shown me. My mom and Hades were standing on the balcony of my mom's room here in the apartment. Hades was dressed casually, jeans and black short-sleeved T-shirt, while my mom was in a white sundress. They looked like opposites, black and white, but at the same time, they looked happy together, they fit. When she turned the page, I saw the three of us. It was the picture that Aeolus had given me. My mother was holding my dad's hand, her ring clearly visible on her left middle finger, while the two of them were looking down on little me, smiling.

The next page…showed the apartment being struck by a lightning bolt, the entire building going up in white flames. The next picture was of me, hugging my knees as I sat in a closet, trying to hide from the flames and crying for my parents to save me. The next, my mother had me in her arms, running down the stairs of the apartment. The second picture on the page was of my father, dressed in all black, jeans, shirt, shoes, along with a cape, running to the burning apartment. I don't know how I knew, but because the white flames had taken the building, he couldn't teleport to me and my mom. At best, he could run to us. He came the moment he realized what Zeus was going to do, but he wasn't able to teleport into the building, only outside of it. It was as if the whole apartment building was in some kind of dome that prevented Hades from snapping his way in. Hades had protected his children last time with Nico di Angelo, and Zeus would not allow that again.

" _Oh, I remember that one,_ " My mother, Zoraya, said, pointing at the picture as though it showed us at the carnival or something. She turned the page, and this time, it showed Hades frantically running up the stairwell. My father's only option was to run up the stairs to try and meet us in the middle. If he made it to us, he could shield us from Zeus's wrath as he did with Bianca and Nico before. But it was a losing battle, and everyone knew it. The second picture on that page showed him looking up to us, Zoraya with a little me in her arms, trapped a floor up between two large chunks of the ceiling that had fallen in front of her, and fallen behind her. She was staring at the hole in the ceiling expectantly. She knew what was going to happen next. He shouted for us to run, I remembered, but there was nowhere to go.

Suddenly, I was there, I was in Hades's position, standing a floor below my mother, who now stood alone, without a child in her arms. She looked down to me now, the calm and hopeless expression gone from her face and replaced with fury and disappointment.

" _You left me to die here,_ " She declared over the crackle of flames and the crumbling of the building. " _Why did you leave me alone?_ "

" _I didn't!_ " I shouted, my voice overlapping with my father's. Was it him she saw, or me? " _I never wanted to leave you! I'd do anything to bring you back!_ "

" _You killed me. If you'd never been a part of my life, I never would've died. Then, you trapped me in a sleepless slumber, suffering every moment, frozen in the second I died for all eternity, and displayed like a trophy. But you have a life without me, I suppose. Go on ahead with your existence, pretending like you cared about me, that you loved me, that you saved me somehow. I will never forgive you for what you've done._ " She spread her arms, and then the lightning bolt struck. She was knocked back, but she didn't even hit the stairs behind her before the entire apartment exploded.

Now I found myself standing on the Argo II's deck. In front of me was Zy looking dazed, her eyes glossed over as though she was dead. Around her neck was that same necklace that her mother had worn in that flashback, the same white, oval gem with the same aged, bronze back and black leather cord. It seemed to flash for a moment, and then Zy was encompassed by a white aura. The aura brightened until she was engulfed in pure light and she could no longer be seen. Then, the aura separated from her, the mass of energy shifting to her side as she fell to her knees. That light transformed into a person.

It was hard to tell their gender, like an anime character but in real life. Their face was unnaturally perfect. Their skin was so pale it might as well have been white and it was smooth like porcelain, their features like that of some kind of elf, their hair and eyes pure white. Their body flowed down like some kind of dress or cape, misting outward at the bottom like a waterfall. Their nails were long and sharp, their fingers delicate, but still deadly. They had no irises, but even so, you could see the coldness in their gaze.

" _You have failed me,_ " They said in a voice that still didn't give away their gender. It was a deep voice by both female and male standards, both genders easily capable of reaching that pitch. There was the familiar " _Don't f-ing mess with me_ " tone that I'd been seeing a lot of recently, and most of them all came from one source. That was Zyanya in all her non-host glory. That was the real her.

" _I tried,_ " Lucy said, breathing heavily. " _I did everything I could for you. I kept you alive, I did everything you told me to. I tried to get him back, I swear._ "

" _You failed! You let your heart get in the way, you allowed_ him  _to mess up_ everything _we were trying to do!_ " She pointed an accusing finger at me.

" _It's not his fault! He didn't do anything wrong. He didn't_ mean  _to do anything wrong._ "

" _You are right. He did not know of any errors he made. His_   _naiveté could not be helped. Yours, however, cannot be excused._ " She looked to the goddess, her face filled with knowing and desperation.

" _No…don't…! Don't bring them into this! Don't take them away!_ "

" _I lost someone I loved because of you. Now you will lose someone close to you. Both have failed the trials, both are worthy of my wrath. You shall choose which one._ " Kaze appeared next to me, a large wall of light behind him. Ribbons of white energy wrapped around him like tentacles, holding his limbs tightly and unrelenting despite his struggles. I felt the rope-like strands of light grabbing onto me too, pulling me back with incredible force. They didn't have any give when I thrashed against them, their grip more solid than iron. Behind me, I could feel my own wall of light, and it was buzzing with heat, like an enormous furnace. The ribbons of light were slowly dragging us back towards the walls, and I knew that if either of us were pulled into those things, we'd be roasted, and not in the metaphorical sense.

" _No…no, not them!_ " She pleaded, sobbing as she looked back and forth between us.

" _Choose which I will save, and which I shall condemn._ "

" _You…you can't…I can't make this choice! They're innocent! They shouldn't have to suffer my punishment!_ "

" _Quite the contrary. They_ are  _your punishment. I am offering salvation._ " I felt the heat burning at my back as I was pulled ever closer, and Kaze began to shout in panic.

" _Onesan! Help me! Please! Don't let her do this!_ "

" _Choose._ " Lu looked back and forth between us, but for the first time since I'd met her, there was genuine helplessness in her eyes. She'd had indecision before, but I had never seen her so afraid. She had been abandoned, she was alone and powerless, more so than she'd ever been.

" _I…I can't…I'd_ never _…_ " She sobbed.

" _Me!_ " I said firmly. " _I'm the one who failed. I should've been smarter, I could've done things different. It's my failure that caused this. I'm the one to be punished._ "

" _Veon, no!_ "

" _You need to be with your brother. He needs you more than I do._ "

" _Veon, you don't understand-!_ " She stood and tried to run forward, but a wall of energy formed behind her, identical to ours, and the ribbons grabbed her before she could take a single step.

" _Very well, Zytaveon Kanazoi,_ " Zyanya said. " _You shall be the one to suffer punishment._ " I expected the heat to grow now, but instead, it went away. Then, Kaze was the one to scream. The light grew brighter around him as the tentacles pulled him into the light behind him. The heat radiating from it seemed to double, and I heard and smelled something burning as he was engulfed screaming at the top of his lungs.

" _No! Please!_ " Lu shouted, sobbing heavily and fighting her restraints with everything she had. " _This is_ my  _fault, this is_ my  _punishment, not theirs! Not his! Kaze-kun! Ototo!_ " Kaze's shouting was drowned out by the whoosh of energy, the dome of light that swallowed him pulsing. Then, it condensed to reveal Kaze again, the light going  _into_  him. His eyes glowed white, his face trapped in a state of shock. He hovered slightly off the ground, his arms and legs thrown out and his body glowing white. Then, light came from his mouth as well as his scream came out a final time, and the light from his body expanded in an explosion of pure heat and energy. I covered my eyes as he went nuclear, and the blast lasted for an eternity before I finally felt the heat dying down and the air stop humming. When I opened my eyes, the ship was still in one piece, but there was a burnt mark on the deck where Kaze had been. The walls and ribbons light disappeared, and Lu was on the deck where she had been, on her knees and sobbing into her hands. The goddess was gone, though her voice echoed through the air.

" _I have offered salvation to your brother,_ " Zyanya said. " _He will now be free forever, his soul protected by my light for eternity. Now the two of you shall suffer the hells of living, and when The Fall comes, you will have no protection from me._ " Her presence seemed to fade with a breeze, and suddenly we were left alone.

As my best friend sobbed on the deck, I had no idea what to do or say. If it was a choice between her brother and me, I would've taken the punishment. This isn't what was supposed to happen, this isn't what I wanted. If Lu had to face the end of the world with someone, it was better her brother than me. But that was Zyanya's punishment, I guess. She "saved" Kaze by protecting his soul, leaving Lu with the person she didn't want, leaving me to regret, see her sob and not know what to do anymore. There was no way to comfort her, no way to say sorry, no way to say that things would be okay. There was nothing to say when I just killed her brother.

I was woken by a ship's horn, blasting so loud, it nearly shook me out of bed. Everything within me was already trembling. Sometimes my nightmares had me fighting or being tortured before I was taken to that dreamscape where I could actually remember things,  _see_  an actual scenario that was close to my heart. Two different stages of my dreams, a physical torturous stage, where I felt pain beyond measure, and then the emotional one, where I saw scenes that rattled me from the inside out. I always woke to numbing pain across my body from the first stage, though there were no physical wounds left, and my body trembled from the second stage, but seeing that nightmare shook me more than any of them.

My heart was pounding so hard, I was afraid I was going to have a heart attack. My hands were shaking badly, and everything was numb from both fear and pain. Usually, these effects disappeared after a minute of breathing, as though my nightmares didn't want anyone to catch them in the act of terrifying me. If anyone walked in on me while I was sleeping, I had no doubt I'd be thrashing around in panic or begging for help, so that obviously wasn't the case. I wondered if the effects would last longer as time went by, but I really didn't want to know. After the numbing pain, I felt fatigued, as though I'd just run a marathon at full speed without stopping. I was tired, but I was calming down.

I was just getting my heart rate under control, when that ship's horn boomed once more. It sounded like it was coming from several hundred yards away - from another vessel. I scrambled to get dressed, the distraction helping to get myself under control again. The good news was, I had experience with waking up when my alarm was too quiet, or I accidentally dismissed it instead of snoozed it, and knew how to get ready in two minutes flat. Once I had my weapons snapped on again and ran out the door, I was good as new, as though my nightmare had never happened.

By the time I got up on deck, the others had already gathered - all hastily dressed except for Coach Hedge, who had pulled the night watch. Frank's Vancouver Winter Olympics shirt was inside out, Percy wore pajama pants and a bronze breastplate (which was an interesting fashion statement, but not one I hadn't seen before considering I'd seen demigods who'd had a rude awakening before), Haze's hair was all blown to one side, as though she'd walked through a cyclone, and Leo had accidentally set himself on fire, his T-shirt in charred tatters and his arms smoking. Zy and Kaze were still in their pajamas, but they were fully armed, Zy with her belt of goodies along with her bow drawn, and Kaze with his shuriken. Zy was the kind of girl who somehow woke up with perfect bed-hair, and if it wasn't perfect, it just took one sweep through her hair with her fingers to make it so. I did notice, that her eyes seemed red from crying. Had she been in that dream too?

About a hundred yards to port, a massive cruise ship glided past. Tourists waved at us from fifteen or sixteen rows of balconies, some smiling and taking pictures. None of them looked surprised to see an ancient Greek trireme. Maybe the Mist made it look like a fishing boat, or perhaps the cruisers thought the Argo II was a tourist attraction. Not to mention how weird we must've looked, half-dressed and half-armed for a fight. I mean, we were a bunch of teenagers and Hedge was the only adult, and with his height, he didn't look exactly look chaperone-worthy. Then, there was Kaze.

" _KON'NICHIWA!_ " Kaze called, waving his shuriken above his head excitedly. Really, shouldn't the tourists be a  _little_  worried about a thirteen-year-old kid with the brain of a nine-year-old waving around a very deadly, four-bladed weapon the equivalent of four swords? Mist is a thing, and none of them know about Kaze's circumstances, but seriously. The cruise ship blew its horn again, and the Argo II had a shaking fit. Coach Hedge plugged his ears.

"Do they have to be so loud?"

"They're just saying hi," Frank speculated.

"WHAT?" Hedge yelled back. The ship edged past, heading out to sea. The tourists kept waving. If they found it strange that the Argo II was populated by half-asleep kids in armor and pajamas and a man with goat legs, they didn't let on.

" _SAYONARA!_ " Kaze shouted.

"Bye!" Leo called, raising his smoking hand.

"Can I man the ballista?" Hedge asked.

"No," Emily said, smiling at the waving tourists. Hazel rubbed her eyes and looked across the glittering green water.

"Where are…oh. Wow…" I followed her gaze and saw what she was looking at. The cruise ship had been blocking our view of a mountain jutting from the sea less than half a mile to the north. On one side, the limestone cliffs were almost completely sheer, dropping into the sea over a thousand feet below, as near as I could figure. On the other side, the mountain sloped in tiers, covered in green forest, so that the whole thing reminded me of a colossal sphinx, worn down over the millennia, with a massive white head and chest, and a green cloak over its back.

"The Rock of Gibraltar," Annabeth said in awe. "At the top of Spain."

"The Rock of Ravatogh sounds cooler," I said. She pointed south, to a more distant stretch of red and ochre hills.

"That must be Africa. We're at the mouth of the Mediterranean."

"What now?" Piper asked. "Do we just sail in?"

"Why not?" Leo asked. "It's a big shipping channel. Boats go in and out all the time."

"In the old days, they called this area the Pillars of Hercules," Zy said. "The Rock was supposed to be one pillar. The other was one of the African mountains. Nobody is sure which one."

"Hercules, huh?" Percy said, frowning. "That guy was like the Starbucks of Ancient Greece. Everywhere you turn - there he is."

"Heracles, Hercules, point stands that even the most uneducated person, demigod, monster, or whatever knows at least a  _little_  about the guy whether they want to or not," Audrey agreed. A thunderous boom shook the Argo II, and I looked around. There weren't any other ships in sight, and the skies were clear. Zy gave a shrug like, " _Wasn't me, peeps._ "

"So are these Pillars of Hercules dangerous?" Emily asked. Annabeth focused on the white cliffs, as if waiting for the Mark of Athena to blaze to life.

"For Greeks, the Pillars marked the end of the known world. The Romans said the pillars were inscribed with a Latin warning-"

"Non plus ultra," Percy said. Annabeth looked stunned.

"Yeah. "Nothing Further Beyond." How did you know?" Percy pointed.

"Because I'm looking at it." Directly ahead, in the middle of the straits, an island had shimmered into existence. I was positive that no island had been there before. It was a small hilly mass of land, covered in forests and ringed with white beaches. Not very impressive compared to Gibraltar, but in front of the island, jutting from the waves about a hundred yards offshore, were two white Grecian columns as tall as the Argo's masts. Between the columns, huge silver words glittered underwater - maybe an illusion, or maybe inlaid in the sand: NON PLUS ULTRA.

"Guys, do I turn around?" Leo asked nervously. "Or…" No one answered - maybe because they had noticed the figure standing on the beach. As the ship approached the columns, I saw a dark-haired man in purple robes, his arms crossed, staring intently at the ship as if he was expecting us. I couldn't tell much from this distance, but judging from his posture, he wasn't happy. Frank inhaled sharply.

"Could that be-?"

"Hercules," Jason said. "The most powerful demigod of all time."

"At least until my team came along," Zy said. The Argo II was only a few hundred yards from the columns now.

"Guys, need an answer," Leo said urgently. "I can turn, or we can take off. The stabilizers are working again. But I need to know quick-"

"We have to keep going," Zy said. "He's guarding these straits, and with Hercules, sailing or flying away won't do us any good. He's expecting us to talk to him, as he's the guard, so either we talk or he doesn't let us pass. Besides, it's courteous to talk to him rather than ignore him. Best try and get on his good side."

"Won't Hercules be on our side?" Piper asked hopefully. "I mean…he's one of us, right?" Jason grunted.

"He was a son of Zeus, but when he died, he became a god. You can never be sure with gods." Well if Bacchus, another god who used to be a demigod, was any indication, this wasn't gonna be pretty.

"Immortality does that to people," Zy said. "Those who are born gods are one thing, but those who start out with a little human in them can either get bored or go insane with so much time on their hands."

"Great," Percy said. "Twelve of us against Hercules."

"And a satyr!" Hedge added. "We can take him."

"How about no?" Emily said. "We don't want to make war with this guy. He could be helpful if we get on his good side. We'll send ambassadors ashore, a group of two from the seven and two from our group. Try to talk with him."

"I'll go," Jason said. "He's a son of Zeus. I'm the son of Jupiter. Maybe he'll be friendly to me."

"Or maybe he'll hate you," Percy suggested. "Half brothers don't always get along." Jason scowled.

"Thank you, Mr. Optimism."

"By that logic, I'll go too," Zy said. "No one can resist my eccentric charm." She said this while scowling, leaning on her bow, and chewing on a piece of gum like a gangster. She looked dead-tired from the nightmare last night, and her eyes were still recovering from crying, so she looked like a corpse just reanimated from the dead. Yeah, I probably shouldn't be saying that when she and I were dating. Love you, Zy. In my defense, as a son of Hades, corpses are my people.

"It's worth a shot," Annabeth said. "At least Jason and Hercules have something in common. And we need our best diplomat. Somebody who's good with words." All eyes turned to Piper. She looked nervous, but Emily shot her a smile and nodded.

"Fine," She said. "Just let me change." Kaze pointed at the pillars.

" _Are we going there? I wanna come._ " Zy looked at him and put an arm around his shoulders. It looked casual, but she was clearly going to be protective of him after last night.

"Kaze's coming as my team's second. I think he's worthy of being a part of my team by now.  _Kaze-kun, you're coming._ "

" _Yeah! More fighting!_ "

"Hopefully not," I muttered.

"Well, with our luck…" She muttered. "Anyway, we gotta change too. Back in a flash."


	26. An Eternity of Remembering

First Person: Lucy

Why was I there? I kept being dragged into his nightmares, but why would that be? Last night I didn't expect to be a part of Veon's dream. I've gained control of my dreams pretty often, and I've been in other people's dreams. Thanks to both Zyanya and the Hypnos Cabin, I've pretty much gotten the hang of hypnokinesis, but that was beyond my control. It was odd. The nightmare had to belong to Veon, but why would I have been a part of it? Why would  _I_  have a nightmare? The circumstances were definitely surrounding  _my_  fears and not Veon's. I could sense he was there though. It would be just like that fool to say he would take a punishment in place of Kaze. But I knew Zyanya. I knew she would always think on both sides of a spectrum, of what would really be considered salvation and what would be considered punishment. People who thought like her were usually considered the bad guys in Final Fantasy games, the whole "if we kill everyone, then no one suffers, hey presto!"

I knew she wasn't a bad person, I knew that she wouldn't punish me for failing. She'd just be sad. Now that I was awake, thinking that all of that was real just seems stupid. But that dream did bring up a point. Who would I choose if it came down to Veon or Kaze? I could never make that choice, I don't even want to  _think_ about if I had to make a choice like that. I've had to say goodbye to my brother before, but Ve has grown just as close. He'd offer himself if it was between Kaze and him, the gracious fool. Despite the rumor of children of Hades holding grudges, he's never really held a serious grudge against someone, saying that there's no point in dwelling on things that can't be changed. Of course, maybe he does hold grudges sometimes, but everyone does that. He's all big and tough, but really he's insecure about some things, he's afraid of things, and he's too kind for his own good. He thinks he can somehow protect the world on his own. He reminds me of Kaze. He reminds me of myself.

It makes me want to protect him instead of him protecting me. Everyone needs protection sometimes, even those who prefer to be the protectors. I don't want him to be dragged into something that I could fix somehow on my own. What has to happen to him, has to be him, but if I could take his burden instead, I would. I'm the one who's doing this willingly, and he shouldn't have to do anything he doesn't agree to.  _There will always be something you could've done_. What did Styx mean by that? So far, all her powers have done are give me telekinetics, something that I've already had thanks to the goddess. What does the power she gave me really do? She says I have the freedom of choice, but everyone has that. We're already responsible for our actions and such. Why would she give me some kind of power?

Once Leo had anchored the Argo II between the pillars and Kaze and I had gotten ready, Jason and I summoned the wind to carry the four of us ashore. I warned the others to keep on their toes in case our talk didn't go well (because let's face it, we can  _never_  seem to have peace talks; just look at what happened with the Romans). If we ended up doing something wrong (and it was bound to happen at some point) then Hercules was obligated to tear the ship apart and the crew along with it. As I hadn't been skilled enough with the wind to fly before, Kaze was understandably excited. He'd learned to spin his arms fast enough to create funnels of wind to boost him upwards (like he did in Charleston to get up to the eagles) but he'd never been able to actually fly before. The man in purple was waiting for us.

His feet were bare, covered in white sand. His robes made him look like a priest, though I couldn't remember which kind of priest wore purple. Cardinals? Bishops? And the purple meant he was the Roman version, right? His Greek form was actually Heracles, while his Romans was Hercules. After hearing more Hercules in my life than Heracles, Heracles just sounded weird. His beard was fashionably scruffy - like  _I just happened to not shave for two days and I_ still _look awesome_. He was built, but not too stocky. His ebony hair was close-cropped, Roman style. He had startling blue eyes like Jason's, but his skin was coppery, as if he'd spent his entire life on a tanning bed. He looked no older than twenty. He was handsome in a rugged but not-at-all-caveman way. He did, in fact, have a club, which lay in the sand next to him, but it was more like an oversized baseball bat - a five-foot-long polished cylinder of mahogany with a leather handgrip studded in bronze. Coach Hedge would have been jealous.

We landed at the edge of the surf. Piper and Jason approached slowly, careful not to make any threatening moves. I walked without much concern, acting both unconcerned and unthreatening, and Kaze was just bouncing around, seemingly unaware of the threat Hercules posed. Besides, he looked forward to a fight if things went wrong, so he was fine either way. Hercules watched us with no particular emotion, as if we were some form of seabird he had never noticed before.

"Hello," Piper said. Always a good start.

"What's up?" Hercules said. His voice was deep but casual, very modern. He could've been greeting us in the high school locker room.

"Uh, not much," Piper said before wincing. "Well, actually, a lot. I'm Piper. This is Zy, Kaze, and Jason. We-"

"Where's your lion skin?" Jason interrupted. Hercules looked more amused than annoyed.

"It's ninety degrees out here. Why would I wear my lion skin? Do you wear a fur coat to the beach?"

"I guess that makes sense," Jason said, sounding disappointed. "It's just that the pictures always show you with a lion skin." Hercules glared at the sky accusingly, like he wanted to have words with his father.

"Don't believe everything you hear about me. Being famous isn't as fun as you might think."

"Tell me about it," Piper sighed. Hercules fixed his blue eyes on her.

"Are you famous?"

"My dad…he's in the movies." Hercules snarled.

"Don't get me started with the movies. Gods of Olympus, they never get  _anything_  right. Have you seen one movie about me where I look like me?"

"I don't watch a lot of movies," I admitted. "I've played Kingdom Hearts, and yeah, you definitely look different."

"I'm surprised you're so young," Piper said.

"Ha! Being immortal helps. I'm sure  _you_  understand, right, girl?" He looked to me and I rolled my eyes. "But, yes, I wasn't so old when I died. Not by modern standards. I did a lot during my years as a hero…too much, really." His eyes drifted to Jason. "Son of Zeus, eh?"

"Jupiter," Jason said.

"Not much difference," Hercules grumbled. "Dad's annoying in either form. Me? I was called Heracles. Then the Romans came along and named me Hercules. I didn't really change that much, though lately just thinking about it gives me splitting headaches…" The left side of his face twitched. His robes shimmered, momentarily turning white, then back to purple. "At any rate, if you're Jupiter's son, you might understand. It's a lot of pressure. Enough is never enough. Eventually, it can make a guy snap. What about you, girl?" I shrugged.

"Granddaughter/great-granddaughter, depending on how you look at it. My mom was a daughter of Zeus and Hera, and my dad was a son of Apollo and a mortal. Whether we're talking about  _Roman_  Apollo or  _Greek_  Apollo, I'm not sure, but my family's Japanese, so you could call me neither. In any case, people always refer to me in Zeus terms, and completely ignore my mother and Apollo."

"Who's your mom?"

"Zenobia. She prefers to stay a lesser-known goddess for the whole Zeus-popularity thing."

"You're a host, right? What are you being called now, Ode?"

"Zyanya."

"Descendant of Zeus, Zenobia, and called Zyanya. That's a lot of Z's, my friend."

"Well my real name is Lucy. At least, my American real name."

"You have other real names?"

"My birth name, is all."

"Well, as for you, my dear," Hercules said to Piper. "Be careful. Sons of Zeus can be…well, nevermind." Piper was confused, but she tried to maintain a calm, polite expression.

" _Rei-chan, do we get to kill him?_ " Kaze asked impatiently.

" _No, Kaze-kun._  I think we should move on before Kaze loses his patience. ADHD and not being able to follow a conversation make him jumpy."

"So, Lord Hercules," Piper said. "We're on a quest. We'd like permission to pass into the Mediterranean." Hercules shrugged.

"That's why I'm here. After I died, dad made me the doorkeeper of Olympus. I said, " _Great! Palace duty! Party all the time!_ " What he didn't mention is that I'd be guarding the doors to the ancient lands, stuck on this island for the rest of eternity. Lots of fun."

"Yeah, that sounds like Zeus," I muttered. "You think his punishments aren't so bad, and then you end up stuck in the same place for all eternity, bored out of your mind." He pointed at the pillars rising from the surf.

"Stupid columns. Some people claim I created the whole Strait of Gibraltar by shoving the mountains apart. Some people say the mountains  _are_  the pillars. What a bunch of Augean manure. The pillars are  _pillars_."

"Right," Piper said. "Naturally. So…can we pass?" The god scratched his fashionable beard.

"Well, I have to give you the standard warning about how dangerous the ancient lands are. Not just any demigod can survive the Mare Nostrum. Because of that, I have to give you a quest to complete. Prove your worth, blah, blah, blah. Honestly, I don't make a big deal of it. Usually, I give demigods something simple, like a shopping trip, singing a funny song, that sort of thing. After all those labors I had to complete for my evil cousin Eurytheus, well…I don't want to be  _that_  guy, you know?"

"Totally," I said.

"Appreciate it," Jason said.

"Hey, no problem," Hercules said, relaxed and easy going. "So anyway, what's your quest?"

"Giants. We're off to Greece to stop them from awakening Gaea."

"Giants," Hercules muttered. "I hate those guys. Back when I was a demigod hero…ah, but nevermind. So which god put you up to this? Dad? Athena? Maybe Aphrodite?" He raised an eyebrow at Piper. "As pretty as you are, I'm guessing that's your mom."

"Many gods pushed us into this, per se," I said carefully. "I mean, Zeus is holed up on Olympus, thinking that Gaea will just go away if the gods get less involved or something, which is dumb."

"Sounds like him."

"Yeah."

"Hera sent us," Jason said. "She brought us together to-"

"Hera." Suddenly Hercules's expression was like the cliffs of Gibraltar - a solid, unforgiving sheet of stone. I would've face-palmed myself if I wasn't focused on Hercules. Hera had been Hercules's mortal enemy, so to speak.

"We hate her too," Piper said quickly. "We didn't want to help her. She didn't give us much choice, but-"

"But here you are," Hercules said, all friendliness gone. "Sorry, you four. I don't care how worthy your quest is. I don't do  _anything_  Hera wants. Ever." Jason looked mystified.

"But I thought you made up with her when you became a god."

"Like I said," Hercules grumbled. "Don't believe everything you hear. If you want to pass into the Mediterranean, I'm afraid I've got to give you an extra-hard quest."

"But we're like brothers," Jason protested. "Hera's messed with my life too. I understand-"

"You understand nothing," Hercules said coldly. "My first family: dead. My life wasted on ridiculous quests. My second wife dead, after being tricked into poisoning me and leaving me to a painful demise. And my compensation? I got to become a  _minor_  god. Immortal, so I can never forget my pain. Stuck here as a gatekeeper, a doorman, a…a butler for the Olympians. No, you don't understand. The only god who understands me even a little bit is Dionysus. And at least  _he_  invented something useful. I have nothing to show except bad film adaptations of my life."

" _I_  have had nothing but pain in my life," I said. "I've spent the last five years living someone else's life, hurting people I care for, lying so often that I no longer remember what's the truth and what's not. You think an eternity being a doorman is bad? I will have to spend eternity doing another's deeds, living another's life and never able to be myself. Though I will be able to roam around, I am  _just_  as shackled as you are. I can watch the world spin around, the millennia pass and always be slave to another, never able to make my own choices. I can never be myself, never have my own identity because everything about me is borrowed from others. So yeah, your life sucked and sucks, but my life has sucked as well, and it will continue to suck for all eternity alongside yours. Give me another f-ing quest to overcome. I'll walk through it, and the next, and the next, and the next and never get anything out of it." Hercules seemed to have a moment of hesitation, before his jaw tightened and he shook his head.

"On the opposite side of this island, over those hills, you'll find a river. In the middle of that river lives the old god Achelous." He waited, as if this information should send us running in terror.

"And?" I prodded impatiently.

"And I want you to break of his other horn and bring it to me."

"He has horns," Jason said. "Wait…his  _other_  horn? What-?"

"Figure it out," The god snapped. "Here, this should help." He said the word " _help_ " like it meant " _hurt_." From under his robes, Hercules took a small book and tossed it to Piper. She barely caught it. The book's glossy cover showed a photographic montage of Greek temples and smiling monsters. The Minotaur was giving the thumbs-up. The title read:  _The Hercules Guide to the Mare Nostrum_.

"Bring me that horn by sundown," Hercules said. "Just the four of you. No contacting your friends. Your ship will remain where it is. If you succeed, you may pass into the Mediterranean."

"And if we don't?" Piper asked, pretty sure she didn't want the answer.

"Well, Achelous will kill you, obviously. And I will break your ship in half with my bare hands and send your friends to an early grave." Jason shifted his feet.

"Couldn't we just sing a funny song?"

"I'd get going," Hercules said coldly. "Sundown. Or your friends are dead." I rolled my eyes, stuck out my tongue, and walked off.

" _Kaze-kun, we're going to find Achelous,_ " I told him.

" _Kill?_ "

" _Maybe._ "

" _Yea!_ " Piper and Jason continued off behind us.

"Hercules can be such a jerk when it comes to Hera," I muttered. "I thought that the fatal flaw of  _Hades_ children was grudges, but  _no_. Immortals can be so arrogant."

"Is what you said back there true?" Jason asked.

"Sort of. A bit exaggerated to try and sympathize with him, but that didn't work out."

"If this is a magical island, why couldn't it be a  _nice_  magical island?" Piper asked, swatting away mosquitoes. We tromped up a hill and down into a heavily wooded valley, careful to avoid the black-and-red striped snakes sunning themselves on the rocks. Neko was on Kaze's shoulder, his tail spraying what smelled like bug-repellant at any swarm of bugs that came his way. The trees were mostly stunted olives, cypress, and pines. The chirring of the cicadas and the oppressive heat reminded me of those times in the forest with Kaze, trying to survive on our own. So far, no river.

"We could fly," Jason suggested.

"We might miss something," Piper said. "Besides, I'm not sure I want to drop in on an unfriendly god. What was his name? Etch-a-Sketch?"

"Achelous." Jason was trying to read the guidebook while we walked, so he kept running into trees and stumbling over rocks. "Says here he's a potamus."

"He's a hippopotamus?"

"Potamus," I corrected. "A river god. He's the spirit of some river in Greece."

"Since we're not in Greece, let's assume he's moved. Anything else that book has?"

"Says Hercules fought him one time," Jason offered.

"Hercules fought 99% of everything in Ancient Greece."

"Yeah. Let's see. Pillars of Hercules…" Jason flipped a page. "Says here this island has no hotels, no restaurants, no transportation. Attractions: Hercules and two pillars."

"Supposedly the dollar sign - you know, the S with the two lines through it? - that came from the Spanish coat of arms, which showed the Pillars of Hercules with a banner curling between them," I said, looking over his shoulder.

"Huh, that's interesting."

"Anything helpful?" Piper asked.

"Wait, here's a tiny reference to Achelous: " _This river god fought Hercules for the hand of the beautiful Deianira._ _During the struggle, Hercules broke off one of the river god's horns, which became the first cornucopia_."

"Corn of what?"

"It's that Thanksgiving decoration," Jason explained. "The horn with all the goodies spilling out? We have some in the mess hall at Camp Jupiter. I didn't know the original one was actually some guy's horn."

"And we're supposed to take his other one," Piper said. "I'm guessing that won't be so easy. Who was Deianira?"

"Hercules married her," Jason said. "I think…doesn't say here. But I think something bad happened to her." Well, from what Hercules said about his family dying and his second wife being tricked into poisoning him, and that didn't exactly comfort me.

"Well, continuing onwards, I suppose." We trudged across a ridge between two hills, trying to stay in the shade. Piper was already soaked with perspiration, the mosquitoes leaving welts on her ankles, arms, and neck, making her look like a smallpox victim. Another reason why I wore boots, jeans, and my jacket, to minimize bug intruders. Of course, I  _still_  got one on my neck, just as I reached and grabbed the little bug and flicked its corpse away. I could resist itchy things like bug bites, but having one on my neck was annoying. I healed it as we continued on, adding a slight spark to my skin so that any bug that came within a centimeter was burnt to a crisp.

Somehow the sun was already starting to sink. How fast had this day gone by? We needed to get to Nico, dammit. Tomorrow, we had one more day to find him, not to mention Rome being destroyed. I made a promise to do everything I could to find him, and I had a feeling that crossing Styx twice wasn't going to be good for my health, or my conscience. Sundown was one of the nicer times of day, with the coolness, but it was also our deadline for Hercules. I had to try harder. I was on my own, without the goddess, but that didn't mean I couldn't use a little of her power and intuition. Just focus on what you want, and things usually work out.

"This way," I muttered. It wasn't long before we heard running water up ahead. We crept through the trees and found ourselves on the bank of a river. It was maybe forty feet wide but only a few inches deep, a silver sheet of water racing over a smooth bed of stones. A few yards downstream, the rapids plunged into a dark blue swimming hole. The cicadas in the trees had gone quiet, no birds were chirping, and it was as if the water was giving a lecture and would only allow its own voice.

The more I listened, the more inviting the river seemed. It was charming, like the water was singing a siren song. It made me want to dive in and relax. Of course, I was an expert on songs, especially those to accomplish tasks such as enchanting someone, so I easily resisted its influence. Jason sat on a rock and started taking off his shoes. He grinned at the swimming hole, like he couldn't wait to get in. Kaze had been fiddling with Neko, but suddenly his eyes were fixed on the water longingly, as though it was his life dream to have a bath. Neko transformed into a hippocampus in his hand, looking around for water excitedly. I didn't want to be angry at the river for singing, it was just enjoying itself, but I needed to stop it before it had the boys jumping in and keep them focused. Never one to resist a song, I sang a tune to join in with it, and also snap the boys to my song instead of the river's. Dust to Dust, from Final Fantasy XIII would work nicely.

" _Nothing more ~ to fear, l'Cie~_  
" _Cradled in ~ eternity~_  
" _Shore and sand ~ your fate awaits~_  
" _Oh, surrender ~ in the light_ …"

" _That was beautiful,_ " The river said. " _Singing is one of the few pleasures I have left_." A figure emerged from the swimming hole as if rising on an elevator. It was the creature that Piper had seen in her knife blade, a bull with a human face - so the opposite of the Minotaur. His skin was as blue as the water, his hooves levitated on the river's surface. At the top of his bovine neck was the head of a man with short curly black hair, a beard done in ringlets Ancient Greek style, deep, mournful eyes behind bifocal glasses, and a mouth that seemed set in a permanent pout. Sprouting from the left side of his head was a single bull's horn - a curved black-and-white one like warriors might turn into drinking cups. The imbalance made his head tilt to the left, so that he looked like he was trying to get water out of his ear.

"Hello," He said sadly. "Come to kill me, I suppose."

"What? No," I said walking up. Jason put his shoes on and stood slowly.

" _Kill?_ " Kaze asked.

" _No, Ototo_. I'm sorry. We didn't want to bother you, but Hercules sent us."

"Hercules!" The bull-man sighed. "His hooves pawed the water as if ready to charge. "To me, he'll always be Heracles. That's his Greek name, you know: the glory of Hera."

"Funny name," Jason said. "Considering he hates her."

"Indeed. Perhaps that's why he didn't protest when the Romans renamed him Hercules. Of course, that's the name most people know him by…his  _brand_ , if you will. Hercules is nothing if not image-conscious." He spoke with bitterness but familiarity, as if Hercules was an old friend who had lost his way.

"You're Achelous?" Piper asked. The bull-man bent his front legs and lowered his head in a bow, which I found both sweet and a little sad.

"At your service. River god extraordinaire. Once the spirit of the mightiest river in Greece. Now sentenced to dwell here, on the opposite side of the island from my old enemy. Oh, the gods are cruel! But whether they put us so close together to punish me or Hercules, I have never been sure. I see you have been blessed by a river goddess, young lady."

"Well, I'm not sure about blessed, really," I said.

"Still, I sense something granted to you from a river goddess."

"Styx. I think it's probably a curse, but I have yet to fully understand what she did."

"Styx, hm? A very powerful river goddess, indeed. Yet I don't sense a curse, per se. More a gift. She gave you a power. It's your choice of how to interpret what it is and how you use it."

"Well, we don't want to fight you. It's just that Heracles - Hercules - whichever you prefer, got mad at us and sent us here." Piper and I explained about the quest to the ancient lands to stop the giants from waking Gaea. We described how our team of Greens and Romans had come together, and how Hercules had thrown a temper tantrum when he found out Hera was behind it. Achelous kept tipping his head to the left, so I wasn't sure if he was dozing off or dealing with one-horn fatigue. When we were done, Achelous regarded Piper as if she were developing a regrettable skin rash.

"Ah, my dear…the legends are true, you know. The spirits, the water cannibals." Piper looked panicky.

"H-How-?"

"River gods know many things," He said. "Alas, you are focusing on the wrong story. If you had made it to Rome, the story of the flood would have served you better."

"Piper?" Jason asked. "What's he talking about?"

"I…I'm not sure…" The mention of a flood story rang a distant bell, but I could never focus on specific stories like that with so many to surf through, and a limited storage space in here (points to head). "Achelous, I don't understand-"

"No, you don't," The river god sympathized. "Poor thing. Another girl stuck with a son of Zeus."

"Wait a minute," Jason said. "It's Jupiter, actually, and how does that make her a  _poor thing?_ " Achelous ignored him.

"My girl, do you know the cause of my fight with Hercules?"

"It was over a woman," Piper recalled. "Deianira?"

"Yes." Achelous heaved a sigh. "And do you know what happened to her?"

"Uh…" Piper glanced at Jason. He took out his guidebook and began flipping through pages.

"It doesn't really-" Achelous snorted indignantly.

"What is  _that?_ " Jason blinked.

"Just… _The Hercules Guide to the Mare Nostrum_. He gave us a guidebook, so-"

"That is  _not_  a book," Achelous insisted. "He gave you that just to get under my skin, didn't he? He knows I hate those things."

"You hate…books?" Piper asked.

"Bah!" Achelous's face flushed, turning his blue skin eggplant purple. "That's  _not_  a book." He pawed at the water. A scroll shot from the river like a miniature rocket and landed in front of him. He nudged it open with his hooves. The weathered yellow parchment unfurled, covered with faded Latin script and elaborate hand-drawn pictures.

" _This_  is a book!" Achelous said. "Oh, the smell of sheep skin! The elegant feel of the scroll unrolling beneath my hooves. You simply can't duplicate it in something like  _that_." He nodded indignantly at the guidebook in Jason's hand. "You young folks today and your newfangled gadgets. Bound pages. Little compact squares of text that are not hoof-friendly. That's a  _bound_  book, a b-book, if you must. But it's not traditional book. It'll never replace the good old-fashioned scroll!"

"Um, I'll just put this away now," Jason said, slipping the guidebook in his back pocket the way he might holster a dangerous weapon.

" _Are we getting scrolls out?_ " Kaze asked, grabbing a scroll from his inner jacket pocket as Neko jumped back on his shoulder in cat form.

"See, he understands," Achelous said, calming down and nodding approvingly at Kaze. "Now." He tapped a picture on his scroll. "This is Deianira." The hand-painted portrait was small, but I could tell the woman had been very beautiful, with long dark hair, dark eyes, and a playful smile that probably drove guys crazy. "Princess of Calydon," The river god said mournfully. "She was promised to me, until Hercules butted in. He insisted on combat."

"And he broke off your horn?" Jason guessed.

"Yes. I could never forgive him for that. Horribly uncomfortable, having only one horn. But the situation was worse for poor Deianira. She could have had a long, happy life married to me."

"A man-headed bull who lives in a river," Piper clarified.

"Exactly," Achelous agreed. "It seems impossible she would refuse, eh? Instead, she went off with Hercules. She picked the handsome, flashy hero over the good, faithful husband who would have treated her well. What happened next? Well, she should have known. Hercules was much too wrapped up in his own problems to be a good husband. He had already murdered one wife, you know. Hera cursed him, so he flew into a rage and killed his entire family. Horrible business. That's why he had to do those twelve labors as penance."

"Wait, Hera  _made_  him crazy, and  _Hercules_  had to do the penance?" Piper asked, looking appalled.

"The Olympians never seem to pay for their crimes," I said. "At least not most of them. Sometimes they deserve it, sometimes they don't, and things usually turn out opposite of how they should be. Those that deserve it, don't pay for it, and those that don't deserve it, do." Achelous nodded in agreement.

"And Hera has always hated the sons of Zeus…or Jupiter." He glanced distrustfully at Jason. "At any rate, my poor Deianira had a tragic end. She became jealous of Hercules's many affairs. He gallivanted all over the world, you see, just like his father Zeus, flirting with every woman he met. Finally, Deianira got so desperate she listened to bad advice. A crafty centaur named Nessus told her that if she wanted Hercules to be faithful forever, she should spread some centaur blood on the inside of Hercules's favorite shirt. Unfortunately, Nessus was lying because he wanted revenge on Hercules. Deianira followed his instructions, but instead of making Hercules a faithful husband-"

"Centaur blood is like acid," Jason said.

"Yes," Achelous agreed. "Hercules died a painful death. When Deianira realized what she'd done, she…" He drew a line across his neck.

"That's awful," I said. "And it happens so often in history too."

"And the moral, my dear?" Achelous said to Piper. "Beware the sons of Zeus." Piper looked down, unable to look at her boyfriend. Hera had manipulated Jason like she had Hercules, but Jason's a good person. He doesn't do the hero thing for the fame and glory, he does it because it's his life, and he wants to genuinely help people. Even without the goddess, I can tell Jason's a good person. Heroes of this time can still be that way, arrogant, full of themselves, never committing to one spouse or SO, but there are more heroes like Jason out there in the world then there had been back in Achelous's time.

When it came to a person like Hercules, marrying him wouldn't ever guarantee love. I've studied some psychology unintentionally thanks to the goddess, and I've learned that once you're married to someone, it makes an affair seem forbidden, and that makes love seem stronger and last longer. When you're promised eternity with someone, when you aren't scared of losing them, then you don't hold onto them as tightly anymore. You aren't as careful when it comes to keeping them with you, and suddenly your love for them disappears. There  _are_  the rare instances when even marriage doesn't guarantee keeping someone, and instances where a bond is unbreakable, immune to the passage of time. The goddess within me has that kind of relationship with her husband, and I'll admit that I'm a bit jealous.

"Hercules is a god now," Achelous said. "He married Hebe, the youth goddess, but still he is rarely at home. He dwells here on this island, guarding those silly pillars. He says Zeus  _makes_  him do this, but I think he prefers being here to Mount Olympus, nursing his bitterness and mourning his mortal life. My presence reminds him of his failures - especially the woman who finally killed him. And  _his_  presence reminds me of poor Deianira, who could have been my wife." He tapped the scroll, which rolled itself up and sank into the water. "Hercules wants my other horn in order to humiliate me. Perhaps it would make him feel better about himself, knowing that I'm miserable too. Besides, the horn would become a cornucopia. Good food and drink would flow from it, just as my power causes the river to flow. No doubt Hercules would keep the cornucopia for himself. It would be a tragedy and a waste."

"That's terrible," I said. "Eternity can really be a curse, huh?"

"I'm sorry, Achelous," Jason said. "Honestly, you've gotten a bum deal. But maybe…well, without the other horn, you might not be so lopsided. It might feel better."

"Jason!" Piper protested. Jason held up his hands.

"Just a thought. Besides, I don't see that we have many choices. If Hercules doesn't get that horn, he'll kill us and our friends."

"He's right," Achelous said. "You have no choice. Which is why I hope you'll forgive me." Piper frowned.

"Forgive you for what?"

"I have no choice either. I have to stop you." The river exploded, and a wall of water crashed over us. The current grabbed us like a fist, pulling us into the deep. Struggling physically would do no good. I couldn't see anything but a torrent of bubbles, and could hear nothing but the dull roar of the rapids. Then, as suddenly as we were pulled under, we were thrust to the surface. I found myself at the center of the whirlpool, able to breathe but unable to break free. If I'd known we were going to be facing a river god, I would've brought Audrey, dammit. Sometimes I hate the fact that I don't have much control over water. A few yards away, Jason broke the surface and gasped, his sword in one hand. He swung wildly, but there was nothing to attack. When Kaze broke the surface, he drew his shuriken and looked around. Twenty feet to the right, Achelous rose from the water.

"I'm really sorry about this."

"And I'm sorry about this!" I shouted, thrusting my hand forward. A bolt of lightning as wide as my fist shot out and whacked the river god in the face. Jason lunged, summoning the winds to lift him out of the river, but a curl of water slammed into Jason and sent him under once more.

"Stop it!" Piper screamed.

"I'm afraid I cannot stop. I can't let Hercules have my other horn. It would be mortifying."

"There has to be another way!" I shouted. "We don't want him to have that horn either! I promise on the Styx, I won't let Hercules get the horn!" Jason clawed his way to the surface again. A miniature storm cloud formed over his head, and thunder boomed.

"None of that, son of Jupiter," Achelous chided. "If you call lightning, you'll just electrocute your girlfriend." The water pulled Jason under again. Suddenly the water god had a shuriken smack into him at the speed of sound, knocking him back with booming force. Concentrating, I launched at the reverse-Minotaur before transforming into a lightning bolt. I zapped him with all the electricity I could muster, controlling the electricity to make sure no one else was harmed, before I reverted and fell into the water once more. He stumbled farther back, the water of the river seeming to react to his pain.

I fell under the water and transformed back into electricity rushing through the water to Jason and then reverting, pulling against the tide. I had taught Audrey how to work the water with her voice, and maybe, with what little I had left from the goddess, I'd be able to do something similar. The river was humming a tune, one of regret. It was almost sad. It reminded me of a tune I'd sung often, one that I began to sing now. I sang the Hymn of the Fayth, a song of both sadness and hope, belief and peacefulness. The river resonated with the song, it wanted belief and hope to ease its sorrow, and this song felt like a step in that direction. The river sang my song with me, and suddenly it bent to my will. We lifted out of the water, and I felt the river acting like a giant sound system, resonating with the feeling of the tune we sang and pulling both the water and the air that heard the song under my control.

When I opened my eyes, wisps of green magic swirled around in the whirlpool and blew through the air. Piper had her ankles wrapped around Achelous's neck, one arm around his throat and her knife in the other, the blade pressed under the river god's chin. Kaze was striking at furious speeds around the god's body with his blades, and the river god seemed shocked, so Piper must've caught him by surprise. He wasn't thinking straight, probably not used to pretty girls threatening to cut his throat, and wasn't able to dissolve into water or pull them under. I pulled Jason above water, tossing him to the shore. I increased the volume and power put into my singing, and the river had no choice but to follow my commands now. I flew over to him, grabbing an arrow from my quiver and flying towards his head.

"You promised," Achelous said through gritted teeth. "You promised Hercules wouldn't get my horn."

"And he won't," I said. "But we will." I slashed off the god's horn with my arrow, cutting through the base like it was wet clay. Achelous bellowed in rage. Before he could recover, Piper stood up on his back and I wrapped my arm around her waist while pulling one of her arms over my shoulders. I shoved my arrow and the horn in my quiver, and then leaped for the shore. The winds caught us at my command and carried us safely over to the bank. Kaze appeared to steady us as we landed, before a metallic smell filled the air.

 _BOOM!_  Lightning stirred the water into a boiling cauldron, steaming and hissing with electricity. The river no longer sang, more like screamed in pain, but also helplessness. I felt it's fear and despair as we bested it, took away Achelous's horn and left him alone once more. I took a deep breath and then blew out a wave of green smoke that mixed into the water. I'd been practicing with this new power, and my control over the river increased once more. It calmed as I restrained it with the power Styx had given me, anger and betrayal boiling down to nothing but grief and sadness.

" _I will keep my promise,_ " I told the river. " _The horn will not be taken by Hercules. I will be back to visit, Achelous. Maybe, you and I can go through eternity together, as we suffer the punishments of fate._ " The river hesitated at my words. Not just the uncertainty about the horn, but what I meant when I said we both suffer the punishments of fate. There are immortals out there like him, not angry or spiteful at their fate, but just sad. The people who understand immortality's curse are the ones who don't deserve to suffer through it alone. I know that if I may face eternity one day, and I'd want to face it with others who are like me too. We live on whether we like it or not.

"Run!" Piper shouted. Still dizzy and sick with fear, Piper and Jason crashed through the woods. As we climbed the hill, Piper was sobbing - maybe from fear, maybe from relief, or maybe from shame for what we'd done to the old river god. We didn't slow until we reached the crest of the hill. Piper kept breaking down and crying as she told us about what had happened while the two of us were underwater. Achelous thought that Piper was offering herself to be his Deianira, be his bride to compensate for his loss. He offered to save her from a son of Zeus, as he had failed to do with Deianira, and he could keep her safe from Hercules's wrath even if he destroyed the rest of us. She'd gotten close to him, and then put her knife to his throat before I could fill in from there.

Kaze told me of how he'd attacked once Piper had the river god in a hold. He was proud of himself and liked the fighting, but as I explained the river god's story to him, his mood seemed to darken and he whispered an apology to Achelous as he looked back the way we'd come. He wanted to save someone he cared for, and failed because she'd been taken by someone she thought she could believe in, only to realize, too late, her mistake, and die for it. Kaze seemed to sympathize. He didn't think  _I_  was like Deianira, did he? The goddess isn't like Hercules, using me for her needs until she's done with me and someone better shows up…right?

"Piper, you had no choice," Jason said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She wiped her eyes and tried to control herself. The sun was nearing the horizon. We had to get back to Hercules quickly or our friends would be facing Hercules, and though maybe my team could hold their ground and escape with the others, we'd either be left here, or the ship would be ruined once more. Two things that we should avoid if we could.

"Achelous forced your hand," Jason continued. "Besides, I doubt that lightning bolt killed him. He's an ancient god. You'd have to destroy his river to destroy him. And he can live without a horn. If you had to lie about not giving it to Hercules, well-"

"I wasn't lying." Jason stared at her.

"Pipes…we don't have a choice. Hercules will kill-"

"I promised too, Jason," I said. "On the Styx. Hercules doesn't deserve this horn. Hercules is a bitter, selfish jerk. He's hurt too many people, and he wants to keep on hurting them. Maybe he's had some bad breaks. Maybe the gods had kicked him around, but that doesn't excuse it. A hero can't control the gods, but he should be able to control himself. Life sucks, that happens. But we don't complain about all the stupid stuff that happens to us, that's going to happen to us, and that means he doesn't have the right to complain either. If he can't take his problems like a man and get over himself, then he does  _not_  deserve to push others around like this and get this horn. A grudge is  _not_  more important than doing the right thing. He threatened our lives and sent us to make Achelous miserable for the sake of spiting Hera. He doesn't deserve a horn of plenty. We're going to put him in his place."

"You have a plan?"

"Don't know about you, but I do," Piper said. She explained her plan, telling Jason what to do. She probably didn't realize she was using charm speak until she saw his eyes glazed over.

"Whatever you say," He promised. Then he blinked a few times. "We're going to die, but I'm in."

Hercules was waiting right where we'd left him. He was staring at the Argo II, docked between the pillars as the sun set behind it. On the deck, staring back at Hercules, were Emily and Audrey. They seemed ready for a fight. We'd already sent an Iris-message to Leo and the gang. Jason and Kaze were prepared. I'd handed the cornucopia to Piper, who was its rightful new owner. Since it had been cut from Achelous's head, the horn had hollowed out, becoming smooth and dark on the inside. It wouldn't appear magical based on first impressions, but I knew it had power. When Hercules saw Piper carrying the bull's horn, he didn't exactly brighten, but his scowl lines lessened.

"Good," He said. "You got it. In that case, you are free to go." Piper glanced at Jason.

"You heard him. He gave us permission." She turned back to the god. "That means our ship will be able to pass into the Mediterranean?"

"Yes, yes." Hercules snapped his fingers. "Now, the horn."

"No." The god frowned.

"Excuse me?" She raised the horn.

"Achelous was right. You're  _his_  curse as much as he is yours. You're a sorry excuse for a hero." Hercules stared at her as if she was speaking Japanese (which she wasn't; I would know).

"You realize I could kill you with the flick of my finger. I could throw my club at your ship and cut straight through its hull. I could-"

"You could shut up," Jason said, drawing his sword. "Maybe Zeus  _is_  different from Jupiter. Because I wouldn't put up with any brother who acts like you." The veins on Hercules's neck turned as purple as his robes.

"You would not be the first demigod I've killed."

"We know," I said, my bow in hand and Kaze's shuriken's four blades popping out of their cylinders. "But you aren't going to kill us. Oh, and the ship? It's been specially protected. Throw your club, and it may just get eaten by some tar."

"Jason is better than you," Piper said. "But don't worry. We're not going to fight you. We're going to leave this island with the horn. You don't deserve it as a prize. I'm going to keep it to remind me of what  _not_  to be like as a demigod, and remind me of poor Achelous and Deianira." The god's nostrils flared.

"Do  _not_  mention that name! You can't seriously think I'm worried about your puny boyfriend and friends. No one is stronger than me."

"Insulting, bud," I said. He looked to me only to get an electric fist to the face, causing him to stumble back. "Remember, I'm a Primordial. And this is my brother. Kaze!" He threw his shuriken point-blank into speed-mode and it struck the god with booming force, knocking him off his feet. Kaze whooped in excitement when his shuriken bounced back to him.

Meanwhile, Piper was concentrating on the cornucopia, the mouth of the horn aimed at Hercules. She filled the horn with the good things she'd shared with Jason, and the possible future they could share when the war was over. Then the horn blasted forth a flood of food as powerful as Achelous's river. A torrent of fresh fruit, baked goods, and smoked hams completely buried Hercules. It should've been impossible for all that stuff to fit through the mouth of the horn, but the hams were appropriate. When it had spew out enough goodies to fill a house, the horn shut itself off. Hercules was shrieking and struggling somewhere beneath. Apparently, even the strongest god in the world could be caught off guard when buried under fresh produce.

"Go!" She shouted to Jason, who'd forgotten his part of the plan and was staring in amazement at the fruit pile. "Go!" I grabbed a grape and popped it in my mouth before grabbing my brother and shooting us away from the island. Jason was beside me, and though Piper nearly got whiplash, it wasn't a second too soon. As the island retreated from view, Hercules's head broke above the mound of goodies. Half a coconut was stuck on his noggin like a war helmet.

"Kill!" He bellowed, like he'd had a lot of practice saying it.

" _Sayonara!_ " Kaze called, waving. We touched down on the deck of the Argo II. Thankfully, Leo and the others had done their part and were ready. The ship's oars were already in aerial mode and the anchor was up. Jason and I summoned a gale so strong, it pushed up into the sky, while Percy and Audrey sent a ten-foot-tall wave against the shore, knocking Hercules down a second time, in a cascade of seawater and pineapples. By the time the god regained his feet and started lobbing coconuts at us from far below, the Argo II was already sailing through the clouds above the Mediterranean.


	27. Chrysaor

First Person: Audrey

After leaving the Pillars of Hercules - unscathed except for a few coconuts that got eaten by the tar Veon had placed - the ship traveled by air for a few hundred miles. The difference in the monster population had increased ten-fold. We were attacked several times an hour. A flock of flesh-eating Stymphalian birds swooped out of the night sky, and Festus torched them. Storm spirits swirled around the mast, and Jason and Zy had to handle them by blasting them or blowing that green mist Zy had learned to control into them. I'm not exactly sure what the green magic of hers did, but it either killed the things or caused them to run away, which was good enough for me. While Coach Hedge was having dinner on the foredeck, a wild pegasus appeared from nowhere, stampeded over the coach's enchiladas, and flew off again, leaving cheesy hoof prints all across the deck.

"What was  _that_  for?" The coach demanded.

"I think that was the pegasus version of an attack," I said.

"All enchiladas beware," Veon commented.

"Does that include Enceladus?" Zy asked. I nodded.

"Yep. Enchiladas should be running in terror from the wild pegasus."

Finally, around midnight, after the ninth or tenth aerial attack, Zy and Jason sent Percy and I below deck to get some rest. The two of them would keep blasting stuff for a few more hours, and then we'd go by sea for a while and we could take over. Kaze had been enjoying the fighting, after having to stand down so often, but even he was getting tired, not to mention hungry. We were lucky that the dining hall had plates and such that could summon any food you wanted, because he ate enough for ten people before going to bed.

I dreamed I was in a dark cavern. I could only see a few feet around me, but the space must have been vast. Water dripped from somewhere nearby, and the sound echoed off distant walls. The way the air moved made me suspect that the cave's ceiling was far, far above. There were heavy footsteps, and the twin giants Ephialtes and Otis shuffled out of the gloom. I could distinguish them only by their hair - Ephialtes had the green locks braided with silver and gold coins, while Otis had the purple ponytail braided with…were those fireworks? Otherwise, they were dressed identically, and their outfits definitely belonged in a nightmare. They wore matching white slacks and gold buccaneer shirts with V-necks that showed way too much chest hair. A dozen sheathed daggers lined their rhinestone belts. Their shoes were open-toed sandals, proving that, yes indeed, they had snakes for feet, the straps wrapped around the serpent's necks. The snakes flicked their tongues excitedly and turned their gold eyes in every direction, like dogs looking out the window of a car. Maybe it had been a long time since they'd had shoes with a view. The giants paid me no attention, instead gazing up into the darkness.

"We're here," Ephialtes announced. Despite his booming voice, his words dissipated in the cavern, echoing until they sounded small and insignificant. Far above, something answered.

"Yes, I can see that. Those outfits are hard to miss." The voice sounded vaguely female, but not at all human. Each word was a garbled hiss in multiple tones, as if a swarm of African killer bees had learned to speak English in unison. It wasn't Gaea, I was sure of that, but whatever it was, the twin giants became nervous, shifting on their snakes and bobbing their heads respectfully.

"Of course, Your Ladyship," Ephialtes said. "We bring news of-"

"Why are you dressed like that?" She asked. She didn't seem to be coming any closer, and while I didn't really  _want_  to see her, for fear that she may be able to see me even though this was just a dream, I did want to know what we were up against. Emily had said that Annabeth would have to face Arachne, the first spider, and if that voice was anything to go by, I had a feeling that this was her. Ephialtes shot his brother an irritated look.

"My brother was supposed to wear something different. Unfortunately-"

"You said  _I_  was the knife thrower today!" Otis protested.

"I said  _I_  was the knife thrower! You were supposed to be the magician! Ah, forgive me, Your Ladyship. You don't want to hear us arguing. We came as you requested, to bring you news. The ship is approaching." Arachne made a series of violent hisses like a tire being slashed repeatedly, which I realized was a laugh.

"How long?" She asked.

"They should land in Rome shortly after daybreak, I think," Ephialtes said. "Of course, they'll have to make it past the golden boy." He sneered, as if the  _golden boy_  was not his favorite person.

"I hope they arrive safely. It would spoil our fun to have them captured too soon. Are your preparations made?"

"Yes, Your Ladyship." Otis stepped forward, and the cavern trembled. A crack appeared under Otis's left snake.

"Careful, you dolt!" Arachne snarled. "Do you want to return to Tartarus the hard way?" Otis scrambled back, his face slack with terror. The floor, which looked like solid stone, must've been like the glacier back in Alaska - in some places it was solid, in other places…not so much. I'm glad I weigh nothing in my dreams. Then again, I'd want to be able to make this floor crumble and send those damn giants to Tartars for taking Nico, not to mention working with this spider to hurt Annabeth.

"There is little left holding this place together," Arachne cautioned. "Except, of course, my own skill. Centuries of Athena's rage can only be contained so well, and the great Earth Mother churns below us in her sleep. Between those two forces, well…my nest has quite eroded. We must hope this child of Athena proves to be a worthy victim. She may be my last plaything." Ephialtes gulped. He kept his eyes on the crack in the floor.

"Soon it will not matter, Your Ladyship. Gaea will rise, and we all will be rewarded. You will no longer have to guard this place, or keep your works hidden."

"Perhaps. But I will miss the sweetness of my revenge. We have worked well together over the centuries, have we not?" The twins bowed. The coins glittered in Ephialtes's hair, and I realized that some of them were silver drachma, exactly like the one Annabeth had gotten from her mom. Each generation, a few children of Athena were sent on the quest to recover the missing Parthenos statue, and none had ever succeeded. The giant Ephialtes had centuries' worth of coins in his braids - hundreds of trophies. And Annabeth would have to come here into this dark place alone, taking on Arachne, someone who even the giant twins feared.

"Uh, Your Ladyship," Ephialtes said nervously. "I would remind you that Gaea wishes the girl to be taken alive. You can torment her, drive her insane, whatever you wish, of course, but her blood must be spilt on the ancient stones." Arachne hissed.

"Others could be used for that purpose."

"Y-yes," Ephialtes said. "But  _this_  girl is preferred. And the boy - the son of Poseidon. You can see why those two would be most suited for the task." Poseidon and Athena, two gods that challenged each other to be the patron of Athens, capital and largest city in Greece, original home of the gods.

"We will see," Arachne grumbled. "Leave me now. Tend to your own preparations. You will have your spectacle. And I…I will work in darkness." The dream dissolved, and I woke in my waterbed. I hopped out and hurried to Emily's room. Jason was heading to his room, looking utterly exhausted, Percy had woken and went to Annabeth's before the two of them went above deck, and Zy and Veon came with me to Emily's while I explained the dream.

"So that's where Annabeth's going," Zy muttered.

"She has to face that spider-woman alone?" Veon asked. "Smarts are cool, brains can beat all kinds of brawn, but we're talking about one of her mom's worst enemies. With the twins too, what makes us think Annabeth can do this? Hundreds of her predecessors died down there, and what's this about returning to Tartarus the hard way?"

"That cavern is a one-way-ticket to Tartarus, simple as that," Zy said, running her hands through her hair. "It's a bit complicated, but going down there doesn't necessarily mean you're dead. Monsters don't die, they just go to Tartarus. If a  _human_  were to go down there…well, I'm not sure what would happen. Tartarus is a dangerous place, and even Hades won't claim to fully understand most of its dangers. I'm not sure the soul of a human would make it to Hades if it died down there."

"Annabeth's not going to go down there, right?" Emily asked.

"We can't be sure, but we do know that if she  _did_  fall to Tartarus, it's unlikely she'd survive the fall alone, let alone the monsters that are down there. She'd need someone's help."

"But she has to go for the Mark of Athena alone," Audrey said. "Or else the trail doesn't appear or some other crap."

"You have to admit, the fact that one has to go alone for the Parthenon is just stupid," Veon said. "If you really want it recovered, then more people should be allowed to help. If that one-person-only rule didn't apply, the statue might have been recovered ages ago."

"Athena's honor," Zy said simply. "She and her blood have to recover it or she feels like a weakling that needed to ask for help. At least she's willing to ask her demigod children, but another's? That would just hurt. It's bad enough that her statue was stolen and she was dishonored as Minerva, but to have her statue recovered by someone other than herself? No. She has to get it back by herself and restore her both her pride and honor, or it means nothing. There's no use arguing or complaining about it. We just have to work with what we can. I've been practicing my new magic powers and trying to come up with a way to both slow the Romans and defend Camp Half-Blood. I will not let that camp fall. But in the process, I might be able to send some help with Annabeth while still making it so that she's still technically alone."

"Well I should get up to my shift," I said. "How long has it been since we were last attacked?"

"Not since we touched the water."

"Well, that means something extra fun might be coming."

"I'll come too then."

"You've been up all night. You need rest."

"I sense an attack coming. I will not be sitting below deck to be ambushed in my sleep."

"That bad, huh?"

"Yep. Kaze's gotten a pretty good night's rest. I'll get him too. Besides, I have some emergency energy bars that give you a day's worth of energy and sleep. Remember when I gave some to Hylla in case Otrera was to start wearing her down? It's better than any caffeine."

"Just don't strain yourself," Veon muttered.

"No overprotecting. I'm fine." She walked out of the room and back to hers for Kaze. We headed above deck to find Percy and Annabeth talking on the deck. Leo was still manning the helm. He'd refused to go to sleep after the skolopendra incident, even though we'd told him that what happened wasn't his fault. You couldn't blame him, really. Not forgiving yourself for mistakes was the natural trait of a demigod.

It was about four in the morning, and the weather was miserable. The fog was so thick, I couldn't see Festus at the end of the prow, and warm drizzle hung in the air like a bead curtain. As we sailed into twenty-foot swells, the sea heaving underneath us, I could hear poor Hazel down in her cabin, just as miserable as the weather. Zy had given her pills again, but it wasn't a perfect and permanent solution. I looked around. Though the fog was thick, I still had perfect bearings at sea. I knew our exact longitude and latitude, the depth of the ocean and which way the currents were flowing, the ship's speed and the rocks, sandbars or other natural dangers, or lack thereof, in our path. Being blind to the fog was still unnerving despite all that.

There was a difference in the water than before, a more powerful and ancient feeling. I could sense its layers swirling below. Every Greek or Roman hero had sailed these waters - from Hercules to Aeneas. Monsters still dwelt in the depths, so deeply wrapped in the Mist that they slept most of the time, but I could also feel them stirring, responding to the Celestial bronze hull of a Greek trireme and the presence of demigod blood. It was kind of weird to think that mortals could just travel over with such ease. Why did  _we_ have to have so much trouble with monsters here? The world was modernized, the monsters shouldn't be so thick.

"It's a paradox," Zy said, walking up.

"Hm?" Ve asked.

"This place has little to no demigods, or anything that might tame the number of monsters here, therefore the monsters grow uncontrolled. The large number of monsters keeps the demigods and those that might challenge the beasts away, and so the cycle continues. These days, the entire Mediterranean is surrounded by human towns and such. I visited Italy for kicks back when I was traveling the world, but I learned to stay well away from the Mediterranean, along with the Black Sea. That's why I accidentally ended up going all the way through the south end of Russia before I turned south and headed to China."

"You made it a long way on your own as…how old were you?"

"Don't know. Took years. I know I started at around five and ended around nine, if that answers your question. Not having proper daily nutrients didn't help me much either. Come to think of it, I'm not sure how I made it so far and so long. Even once I came to the States and tried to be modernized, old habits die hard and it took a while for me to be able to eat three actual meals per day. I slept on the floor because beds were uncomfortable, especially after my "orphanage" where they forced me to sleep on a mattress in a bunk. And don't get me started on the educational system. I could only ready kanji at first - Japanese symbols, that is - and romaji - English letters - were just squiggles on a page. All those good times when you could pretend that you didn't know what people were saying or couldn't read that book. Of course, then I discovered fiction and then the rest is history."

"We're not far from the Italian coast," I said. "Maybe a hundred nautical miles to the mouth of the Tiber."

"Then by daybreak we should-" She cut herself off. My skin suddenly felt washed with ice. "Stop. We have to stop."

"Leo, stop!" I shouted. Too late. The other boat appeared out of the fog and rammed us head-on. I tried to take in the details. It was another trireme, black sails pointed with a gorgon's head, hulking warriors, not quite human, crowding at the front of the boat in Greek armor, swords and spears ready, ant a bronze ram at water level, slamming against the hull of the Argo II. Festus blew fire, sending a dozen very surprised warriors screaming and diving into the sea, but more swarmed the Argo II. Kako began to rise out of puddles of tar, grabbing some of the invaders and pulling them under before rising with more and more gloppy monsters. Grappling lines wrapped around the rails and the mast, digging iron claws into the hull's planks.

I couldn't see well through the fog and the dark, but the invaders seemed to be human-like dolphins, or dolphin-like humans. Some had gray snouts, others held their swords in stunted flippers, and some waddled on legs partially fused together, while other had flippers for feet, which reminded me of clown shoes. Leo sounded the alarm bell. He made a dash for the nearest ballista, but went down under a pile of chattering dolphin warriors. Annabeth and Percy were back-to-back a little ways away, while the four of us had our weapons drawn and Kaze was running around slashing at the intruders with his weapon and sending a good deal overboard. The Kako were slow, but they worked well together, cornering some of the dolphin-men and absorbing them into their ranks.

I tried to summon the water to try and knock the enemy ship away, or even capsize it, but it was like there was a lock on the water, and no matter how hard I pulled, I could barely make a ripple. Even with Kaze and the Kako, we were outnumbered. More of the warriors flooded onto the ship, some going downstairs to secure the hull. I heard them breaking down cabin doors, scuffling with the others. Even if the others hadn't been fast asleep, they wouldn't have stood a chance against so many. Some of the dolphins grabbed Kaze's arms, but he shook his arms so fast that they blurred and his captors weren't able to keep their hands on him. He grabbed his shuriken and went speeding off once more, but with the enemy's numbers, he had to resort to running in a circle to avoid getting grabbed and jumped. Zy summoned him back to us, and the Kako began to rise in a defensive circle around us, Percy, and Annabeth as the large number of dolphin-men closed in. Our two groups were forced together, for better or worse, and the Kako were holding the attackers back, at least for now.

Leo was dragged across the deck, half-conscious and groaning. Below, the sounds of fighting tapered off as the others were subdued. On one side of the ring of spears, the dolphin warriors parted to let someone through. He appeared to be fully human, but from the way the dolphins fell back before him, he was clearly their leader. He was dressed in Greek combat armor - sandals, kilt, and greaves, a breastplate decorated with elaborate sea monster designs - and everything he wore was gold. Even his sword, a Greek blade like Riptide, was gold instead of bronze. The guy's helmet was slightly unnerving. His visor was a full face mask fashioned like a gorgon's head - curved tusks, horrible features pinched into a snarl, and golden snake hair curling around the face. Having met gorgons before, the likeness was a little too good. In my dream, I remembered a golden boy being mentioned. This must've been him. Please, not another Midas situation.

"Who are you?" Percy demanded. "What do you want?" The golden warrior chuckled. With a flick of his blade, near faster than I could follow, he smacked Riptide out of Percy's hand and sent it flying into the sea.

"Hello brother." The golden warrior's voice was rich and velvety, with an exotic accent - Middle Eastern, maybe. "Always happy to rob a fellow son of Poseidon. I am Chrysaor, the Golden Sword. As for what I want…" He turned his metal mask toward Annabeth. "Well, that's easy. I want everything you have." Chrysaor walked back and forth, inspecting us like prized cattle. A dozen of his dolphin-man warriors stayed in a ring around us, staying away from the Kako, but their spears raised and ready to attack, while dozens more ransacked the ship, banging and crashing around below deck. One carried a box of ambrosia up the stairs. Another carried an armful of ballista bolts and a crate of Greek fire.

"Careful with that!" Annabeth warned. "It'll blow up both our ships."

"Ha!" Chrysaor said. "We know all about Greek fire, girl. Don't worry. We've been looting and pillaging ships on the Mare Nostrum for eons."

"Your accent sounds familiar," Percy said. "Have we met?"

"I haven't had the pleasure." Chrysaor's golden gorgon mask snarled at him, though it was impossible to tell what his real expression might be underneath. "But I've heard all about you, Percy Jackson. Oh, yes, the young man who saved Olympus. And his faithful sidekick, Annabeth Chase."

"I'm nobody's sidekick," Annabeth growled. "And, Percy, his accent sounds familiar because he sounds like his mother. We killed her in New Jersey." Percy frowned.

"I'm pretty sure that accent isn't New Jersey. Who's his…? Oh.  _Medusa_  is your mom? Dude, that sucks for you." Judging from the sound in Chrysaor's throat, he was now snarling under the mask too.

"You are as arrogant as the  _first_  Perseus," Chrysaor said. "But yes, Percy Jackson. Poseidon was my father, Medusa was my mother. After Medusa was changed into a monster by that so-called goddess of wisdom…" The golden mask turned on Annabeth. "That would be  _your_  mother, I believe…Medusa's two children were trapped inside her, unable to be born. When the original Perseus cut off Medusa's head-"

"Two children sprang out," Annabeth remembered. "Pegasus and you." Percy blinked.

"So your brother is a winged horse. But you're also my half brother, which means all the flying horses in the world are my…you know what? Let's forget it."

"First off, ew," I said. "Why are so many things in Greek history weird like that? Second, have we  _not_  had this realization before, Percy?"

"But if you're Medusa's kid, why haven't I ever heard of you?" Percy asked. Chrysaor sighed in exasperation.

"When your brother is Pegasus, you get used to being forgotten. Oh, look, a winged horse! Does anyone care about me? No!" He raised the tip of his blade. "But don't underestimate me. My name means the Golden Sword for a reason."

"Imperial gold?" Veon guessed.

"Bah!  _Enchanted_  gold, yes. Later on, Romans called it Imperial gold, but I was the first to ever wield such a blade. I should have been the most famous hero of all time! Since the legend-tellers decided to ignore me, I became a villain instead. I resolved to put my heritage to use. As the son of Medusa, I would inspire terror. As the son of Poseidon, I would rule the seas!"

"You became a pirate," Annabeth summed up.

"The  _best_  pirate. I've sailed these waters for centuries, waylaying any demigods foolish enough to explore the Mare Nostrum. This is my territory now, and all you have is mine."

"Know what I have to say to that?" Zy asked. She stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry. "'I'm not famous so I'm gonna go be a pirate and live out my  _Pirates of the Caribbean_  fantasies.' Well, good for you, bud. Herc-the-jerk tried going the hero route and look where  _he_  ended up. We just visited him over yonder way and he was  _not_  happy, let me tell you. He was all 'Hera made me kill my first family and then my second wife poisoned me with centaur blood, and now I'm stuck here standing guard over a couple of pillars named after me.' Honestly, you people only get worse with age. In another couple millennia  _everyone's_ gonna be just complaining all blah-blah-blah, "my immortal life sucks" and we're all gonna have a bonding session of how all of us are bored with the world, we're gonna try and have a revolution, and all those younglings who've barely been alive for two decades are gonna stop us and we're gonna repeat the cycle  _all_ over again until the end of time!" She took a deep breath. "All right, so what were we talking about again?"

"And you are?" Chrysaor asked. She leaned on her bow casually.

"I'm me. You're you. Enough said, bud. I'm getting tired of introducing myself. Once a week is fine with me, but once every few hours is just tiring me out."

"Let me go you tuna fish!" We all looked to see Hedge being dragged up from below by one of the dolphin warriors. He tried to kick the warrior, but his hoof clanged off his captor's armor. Judging from the hoof-shaped prints in the dolphin's breastplate and helmet, the coach had already made several attempts.

"Ah, a satyr," Chrysaor mused. "A little old and stringy, but Cyclopes will pay well for a morsel like him. Chain him up."

"I'm nobody's goat meat!" Hedge protested.

"Gag him as well," Chrysaor decided.

"Up-bup-bup," Zy said. She pointed to the dolphin warriors like a mother scolding her child. "Nope. Release him. Any sensible Cyclops wouldn't want  _that_  satyr, trust me." Hedge opened his mouth to protest, but Zy closed her fingers in a claw kind of way and his voice was cut off. "None of that. Just please sit still and be quiet, or I'll make you." She pointed to the dolphins and they began to glow with her light green energy before moving away from Hedge. Hedge glowed too, and suddenly he was frozen like someone had hit stop on the TV. "So, where were we?"

"Who are you, witch?"

"Ah, witch. I've been called a heathen, and a demon, but how many times have I been called a witch? Hm. Anyway, I'm your worst nightmare, and believe me, I make Tartarus look like a toddler. Ask your dolphin boys who are trying to get into my room now. The walls of that room can take a nuclear blast with barely a smudge mark. I must say, they are a…weird choice of company."

"My warriors have been trained to perfection. They are vicious, cutthroat-"

"They're  _dolphins_ , my friend." Chrysaor shrugged.

"Yes. So? They had some bad luck a few millennia ago, kidnapped by the wrong person. Some of their crew got turned  _completely_  into dolphins, others went mad, but these…these survived as hybrid creatures. When I found them under the sea and offered them a new life, they became my loyal crew. They fear nothing!" One of the warriors chattered at him nervously. "Yes, yes," He growled. "They fear  _one_  thing, but it hardly matters. He's not here."

"Of all the people to fear," Zy muttered, unintimidated. More dolphin warriors climbed the stairs, hauling up the rest of the crew. Jason was unconscious, but judging from the new bruises on his face, he'd tried to fight. Hazel and Piper were bound hand and foot, and Piper had a gag in her mouth, so apparently, the dolphins had discovered she could charm speak. Frank was the only one missing, though two of the dolphins had bee stings covering their faces.

"Excellent!" Chrysaor gloated. He directed his warriors to dump Jason by the crossbows. Then he examined the girls like they were Christmas presents, making my grit my teeth. I saw that the entire deck was turning black with tar, but with the light and the fog, it was hard to tell. "The boy is no use to me. But we have an understanding with the witch Circe. She will buy the women - either as slaves or trainees, depending on their skill. But not you, lovely Annabeth." Annabeth recoiled.

"You are  _not_  taking me anywhere." Percy's hand crept into his pocket for his pen that must've reappeared by now. The golden warrior tutted.

"Oh, sadly, Annabeth, you will not be staying with me. I would love that. But you and your friend Percy are spoken for. A certain goddess is paying a high bounty for your capture - alive, if possible, though she didn't say you had to be unharmed." At that moment, Piper wailed so loudly it could be heard through her gag. Then she fainted against the nearest guard, knocking him over. Hazel got the idea and crumpled to the deck, kicking her legs and thrashing like she was having a fit. Percy drew Riptide and lashed out. The blade should have gone straight through Chrysaor's neck, but the golden warrior was unbelievably fast. He dodged and parried as the dolphin warriors backed up, guarding the other captives while giving their captain room to battle. They chattered and squeaked, egging him on, and I got the feeling they saw this as more of entertainment, they didn't believe their leader was in any sort of danger.

They battled back and forth, thrusting and parrying, and I saw Zy scowl as though she'd had a plan ruined. She sighed and hefted her bow into her right hand, so clearly she had little to no intention of shooting an actual arrow. The warm fog, the slick deck boards, the chattering of the warriors - none of that helped Percy. One of the dolphin-men was holding a knife at Annabeth's throat in case she tried anything tricky. Zy looked unconcerned by the precarious situation, and signaled for us to not interfere yet. Percy feinted and thrust at Chrysaor's gut, but Chrysaor anticipated the move. He knocked Percy's sword out of his hand again, and once more, Riptide flew into the sea. Chrysaor laughed easily. He wasn't even winded. He pressed the tip of his golden sword against Percy's sternum.

"A good try," Said the pirate. "But now you'll be chained and transported to Gaea's minions. They are quite eager to spill your blood and wake the goddess."

"Whelp, time to do something then," Zy said. She suddenly shot forward and smacked Chrysaor's sword away from Percy with her bow. "Everyone, please do try and restrain yourself from doing anything stupid." I pulled Percy out of the battle ring that had been made. "Now, I haven't gotten much chance to use this bow yet." She spun it in her hand similar to a sword. "You're practically the Mediterranean Lityerses, you know? Covered in enough gold to be Midas's son, and Lit was called the Reaper of Men, meaning he was pretty good with a sword too. I wonder who'd win in a fight with the two of you. Now that would be fun to watch. I'm pretty sure, since he's human, he'd eventually lose, but still. A goddess can wonder, can't she? Now, where were we?"

"What are you playing at?"

"Oh, nothing. I just want to see what kind of fighter you are. You see, my little buddy over there can fight at the speed of sound on an average basis. So do you think you pose a challenge to me?" She twisted her bow in her hand so that the bowstring was against her arm. Then she shot forward and swung her bow like a sword, Chrysaor parrying. She spun around and struck again, though she didn't seem surprised when he blocked once more. She kept on the assault, forcing Chrysaor to back up to gather his bearings. When he began to strike back at his blinding speed, Zy easily countered his strikes, hitting them with her bow as though every move had been planned between them previously. Her bow had the advantage of reach, as it was near twice the length of Chrysaor's sword and allowed her twice the mobility, only having to turn her bow less than 180 degrees at most to block a strike. That, plus the fact that it could be used both offensively and defensively at once. Since she knew how to use her bow so well, she fought with a straight face, as though she was bored, actually.

Despite her ability to handle herself against the main man, we were still outnumbered by his crew. They said they had been afraid of one thing, a  _he_ , and if the stories that I'd been told back at Camp Half-Blood were true, I think I knew who they were talking about. So these dolphin-men had been pirates millennia ago, when they had been kidnapped by "the wrong person." Heck, the same "wrong person" in question had threatened to turn  _Percy_  into a dolphin, but according to Percy, he was just too lazy to do it. With a glance toward the stern, I spotted Frank, in human form, peeking out from behind a ballista, waiting. The big guy claimed to be clumsy and useless, but he always seemed to be in exactly the right place when we needed him.

"Oops, sorry, Chrysler," Zy said. I looked back to the fight to see that she smacked Chrysaor in the face with her bow, and his helmet had consequently hurt him, even if it had protected him from getting smacked with her seemingly innocent yet very deadly bow shaft. She spun the bow in her hand like a baton, walking around her opponent as though they were simply in a training match. His stunned state would be easy to take advantage of, but she must've wanted to play dumb or something.

"Oh, you'll pay for that." Chrysaor charged again and she smirked before blocking with her bow and pushing him back. Then she charged in and they resumed their dance. The dolphin warriors were now studying the battle with less enjoyment, seeing that their leader was facing a real threat. There was a moment when Zy got struck on the cheek, and suddenly that seemed to renew the spirits of the troops. Zy looked to the sides, as if just realizing there were others around us. She understood that even if she could handle Chrysaor, the sheer numbers of his crew would still be a slight problem when it came to protecting the others.

"You won't be taking us, our captain won't let you," She said loudly, going into acting-mode and making sure those that knew her understood she wasn't serious. Chrysaor looked to her, probably feeling as though he had the upper hand now that he'd gotten a little cut onto her.

"What captain? My men searched the ship. There is no one else." She raised her hand dramatically.

"The god appears only when he wishes. But he is our leader. He runs our camp for us demigods, doesn't he?"

"Yes!" Annabeth said, nodding enthusiastically. "Mr. D! The great Dionysus!" A ripple of unease passed through the dolphin-men, one dropping his sword.

"Stand fast!" Chrysaor bellowed. "There is no god on this ship. They are trying to scare you."

"You should be scared!" Percy said, looking over the pirate crew with sympathy. "Dionysus will be severely cranky with you for having delayed our voyage. He will punish all of us. Didn't you notice the girl's falling into the wine god's madness?" Hazel and Piper had stopped the shaking fits, but when Percy gave them a pointed look, they started hammering it up again, trembling and flopping around like fish. The dolphin-men fell over themselves trying to get away from their captives.

"Fakes!" Chrysaor roared. "Shut up, Percy Jackson. Your camp director is not here. He was recalled to Olympus. This is common knowledge."

"So you admit Dionysus is our director!" I pointed out.

"He  _was_ ," Chrysaor corrected. "Everyone knows that." Zy gestured to the golden warrior like he'd just betrayed himself.

"You see?" She asked dramatically. "We are  _doomed!_  If you don't believe me, look to the ice chest!" Percy stormed over to the magical cooler, and no one tried to stop him. He knocked open the lid and rummaged through the ice. He then brandished a silver-and-red can of soda at the dolphin warriors as if spraying them with bug-repellent.

"Behold!" Percy shouted. "The god's chosen beverage! Tremble before the horror of Diet Coke!" The dolphin-men began to panic, and they were on the edge of retreat.

"The god will take your ship!" I warned. "He will finish your transformation into dolphins, or make you insane, or transform you into insane dolphins!"

"Your only hope is to retreat now, quickly!" Emily added, and I could tell she was pushing her influence through her words because I suddenly felt the urge to jump ship and retreat.

"Ridiculous!" Chrysaor's voice turned shrill. He didn't seem sure where to level his sword - at Zy or his own crew.

"Save yourselves!" Emily shouted. "It's too late for us!" I gasped dramatically and pointed to where Frank was hiding.

"Oh, no! Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!" Nothing happened. "I  _said_ , Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!" Frank stumbled out of nowhere, making a big show of grabbing his throat.

"Oh, no!" He said, like he was reading from a teleprompter. "I'm turning into a crazy dolphin!" He began to change, his nose elongating into a snout, his skin becoming sleek and gray. He fell to the deck as a dolphin, his tail thumping against the boards. The pirate crew disbanded in terror, chattering and clicking as they dropped their weapons, forgot the captives, ignored Chrysaor's orders, and jumped overboard. Within seconds, Chrysaor was alone and surrounded.

"So, care to continue our match?" Zy asked, pointing her bow like a sword. The Kako spread in a semicircle, the other demigods in front of them with murderous looks that made up for the lack of weapons. Chrysaor backed to the edge of the rail.

"This isn't over, Jackson," He growled. "I will have my revenge-" He was cut short by Kaze, who threw his shuriken at Chrysaor's face at the speed of sound. It swiped across Chrysaor's face, raking off the golden mask of his helmet. Chrysaor screamed, instantly covering his face with his arms and tumbling into the water. We ran to the rail, but Chrysaor had disappeared. I thought about chasing him, but these waters were unfamiliar, and I didn't think I had the prowess to defeat him even if Percy came with me. Kaze shouted something that must've been insulting based on his tone. He blew a raspberry at the water where Chrysaor had disappeared before throwing a round sphere into the water. There was an explosion, causing a pillar of water to shoot into the air. Another blast happened in succession, about five happening in all. Neko jumped onto his shoulder and blew a mechanical raspberry as well, which inspired some laughter from the group.

"Whelp, that was fun," Zy said. "You're all natural actors. Now, what are we to do with this pirate trireme?"

"Burn it?" Annabeth suggested. I looked to the Diet Coke in Percy's hand before taking it.

"You know something? I think I've got a better idea."


	28. Annabeth's Quest Begins

First Person: Lucy

We got Leo back on his feet thanks to a little nectar. Piper tended to Jason's wounds, but he wasn't as badly hurt as he looked. Mostly, he was just ashamed that he'd gotten overpowered again, something most of the crew could relate to. The returned all the supplies to the proper places and tidied up from the invasion while Coach Hedge and Kaze had a field day on the enemy ship, both breaking and stealing everything they could find. I made sure Kaze held back in what he took, and in return he could wreck the ship like crazy. He did still take a little, because this is my little brother we're talking about, but there was too much on that ship even for him.

"I can sense about six million dollars' worth of gold aboard," Veon said.

"Not to mention diamonds and rubies-" Hazel began to add.

"Six m-million?" Frank stammered. "Canadian dollars or American?"

"Leave it," Percy said. "It's part of the tribute."

"Not like we need it anyway," I said.

"Tribute?" Hazel asked.

"Oh," Piper said nodding. "Kansas." Jason grinned.

"Crazy, but I like it."

"Do we have anymore Diet Coke?" Emily asked. "Gold is great and all, but he might appreciate a little Coke along with it."

"Good idea," Audrey said, taking some more Diet Coke cans out of the ice chest. "Oh, Piper, can your cornucopia spew a stream of Diet Coke? That would help out a lot."

"I think so," She said.

"All right," I said. " _Kaze, open the flood valves_." He saluted before speeding onto the ship. Leo had drilled a few extra holes in the bottom of the hull with his power tools, and he was happy to oblige. Kaze returned in a flash, and the ship was beginning to sink. The crew of the Argo II assembled at the rail and cut the grappling lines. Piper aimed her horn of plenty and willed it to spew Diet Coke, which came out with the strength of a fire hose, dousing the enemy deck. The large ship sank remarkable fast, filling with Diet Coke and seawater.

"Dionysus," Percy called, holding up Chrysaor's golden mask. "Or Bacchus - whatever. You made this victory possible, even if you weren't here. Your enemies trembled at your name…or your Diet Coke, or something. So, yeah, thank you." I could tell Percy was having a hard time getting the words out, but he managed. "We give this ship to you as tribute. We hope you like it."

"Six million in gold," Leo muttered. "He'd  _better_  like it."

"Shh," Hazel scolded. "Precious metal isn't all that great. Believe me." Percy threw the golden mask aboard the vessel, which was now sinking even faster, brown fizzy liquid spewing out the trireme's oar slots and bubbling from the cargo hold, turning the sea frothy brown. Audrey summoned a wave, and the enemy ship was swamped. Leo steered the Argo II away as the pirate vessel disappeared underwater.

"Isn't that polluting?" Piper asked.

"I wouldn't worry," I told her. "If Bacchus likes it, the ship should vanish." I stretched. "Well, that was fun. Haven't had a fast opponent like that for ages. Besides Kaze, of course. He really wanted to take on Chrysaor too, but I called dibs. In any case, I say we should fly the rest of the way to Rome. I can take watch."

"I'm well enough to take sentry duty too," Jason insisted. He also got Percy to go back to his cabin and get in a few more hours of sleep himself. Veon and Kaze insisted on staying above deck for watch duty as well, though Kaze fell asleep on the deck against the mast. Hedge stayed as well, who was still so charged with adrenaline that every time the ship hit turbulence, he swung his bat and yelled, "Die!" I laid down next to Kaze and then Veon joined us. He ordered me to get some sleep as well, and when he put his arm around me and smothered me in his warmth, he didn't give me much choice. Still, I'd had to sleep lightly a lot, and though I had been modernized for a few years, that didn't mean I got rusty. I had a hand on a gun when I fell asleep, prepared to defend myself if I was jumped in my sleep, not that I assumed Veon would let that happen.

I dreamed of darkness. Dust swirled and solidified into the figure of a woman. Her eyes were closed, as if she were sleepwalking. Her robes were forest green, dappled with gold and white like sunlight shifting through the branches. Her hair was as black as tilled soil, her face beautiful, but even with a dreamy smile on her lips, she seemed cold and distant. She could watch demigods die or cities burn, and that smile wouldn't waver. There was no mercy in her heart, no kindness or compassion. Only a drive to get what she wants, no matter what the cost, and no fear of failure in her. To a goddess, failure means temporary sleep, and no matter how many millennia they had to wait, they could always return to try again and again. But for my goddess, the world could not continue spinning if she were to disappear. The balance that allowed existence would shatter. It wasn't like with Ouranos, where even though he was killed, the skies lived on.

"The goddess you serve lies and deceives. It is right in front of your eyes, yet you choose to remain blind to it. The power you are capable of can go in any direction you choose. As your power expands, so too does the weight of your choices. You waste your potential helping a hopeless cause, knowing that you will forever be slave to another if you continue down this path. You could be free with just a thought. Why put everything into something that you gain nothing from?"

"Because  _others_  gain from it."

"And does your little friend feel the same way? You will keep the secret of what he's to face to yourself, and then throw him to the wolves unprepared?"

"He'll survive. He'd give his life for another's, all of my friends would. We're not ones to give up without a fight."

"Then what would you call what  _you're_  doing? You will fail if you continue down this path you think is the right one. Give me the ones I want and stop. I could guarantee a life for you and your brother and everyone you love. You will never be a slave to another's demands again. I ask naught but for you to rest, to let go of the weight you carry for no reason. You can make a decision for yourself for once. If the goddess you protect ceases, there will be no ill consequences."

"Lies. She is far more important than any god. You don't understand the consequences of her demise along with her husband's."

" _You_  are the one that doesn't understand. Where do her loyalties really lie? Do you believe that everything she tells you is truth? She tells you she is invaluable to spare her own life, when in reality she means no more than Ouranos. She could be killed and the world wouldn't change. You fight for no reason, you suffer and sacrifice and give everything you have away for a selfish woman who uses you for convenience. You hurt the ones you love, telling yourself that everything is on the line when, in reality, there was no reason to make such sacrifices."

"Even…even if what you're saying is true, I am going to save a life. I'm going to help someone who needs me."

"But is it truly worth everything you have to give? Your brother, your life, the ones you love, your freedom of choice itself. Nothing in your life is yours, and nothing in your life will ever  _be_  yours. There is no reason to continue down a path that gains nothing and is worth everything. You have the ability to choose, so choose your own life for once."

"I appreciate the pep-talk, Triple G mother, but leave me the F alone."

"I will have my revenge on her no matter what you choose. I'm offering to spare you, another victim of her evil. Consider the path you have chosen, and see how futile your efforts are. My offer shall stand. I do hope to have you and the boy join my noble cause. If not…" She opened her eyes. They swirled in green and black, as deep as the crust of the earth. Gaea saw everything, her patience was infinite, her determination immeasurable, and her goals she aspires to deadly and pure evil. "You and the boy will enjoy an eternity of pain in Tartarus. When I reclaim the earth, I will raze all human civilization, let those who have been wronged for too long take its place. The gods shall fall, their children will suffer until they meet the same fate, and those who have crossed me shall meet an eternity of pain and misery." I heard a loud  _CLANG-CLANG-CLANG_  and jolted awake, my gun in hand and aimed.

"Whoa, it's just the landing gear," Veon said. "Remember how hard we worked to fix this thing. Please don't shoot all my hard work." I clicked the safety on and knocked him in the head with the butt off the gun, not hard, but not light either.

"Be quiet." He laughed but rubbed his head where I hit him.

"We're descending over Rome. Come on, let's check out the view." I stood and we walked over to the rail.

The sky was brilliant blue, as if the stormy weather had never happened. The sun rose over the distant hills, so everything below us shone and sparkled like the entire city of Rome had just come out of the car wash. I had seen big cities before, but the sheer vastness of Rome was amazing. The city seemed to have no regard for limits of geography. It spread through hills and valleys, jumped over the Tiber with dozens of bridges, and just kept sprawling to the horizon. Streets and alleys zig-zagged with no rhyme or reason through quilts of neighborhoods, glass office buildings stood next to excavation sites, a cathedral stood next to a lone of Roman columns, which stood next to a modern stadium. In some neighborhoods, old stucco villas with red-tiled roofs crowded the cobblestone streets, so that if I just concentrated on those areas, I could imagine I was back in ancient times. Everywhere I looked, there were wide piazzas and traffic-clogged streets, parks cutting across the city with a crazy collection of palm trees, pines, junipers, and olive trees, as if Rome couldn't decide what part of the world it belonged to - or maybe it just believed all the world still belonged to Rome.

This placed seemed to know that the earth goddess intended on razing all human civilization, and this city, which had stood for thousands of years, was saying back to her, " _You wanna dissolve this city, Dirt Face? Give it a shot_." In other words, it was the Coach Hedge of mortal cities - only taller. How could the Romans forbid coming here? Honestly, it's Rome, and they're Romans, who are forbidden to come to Rome just because it's dangerous. The whole paradox of people not coming because there are lots of monsters because no one comes to destroy the monsters comes into play once more. When we come back from Rome and end this war, I am going to go to whoever made some of the Roman rules and give them a goddess-sized slap to the face.

"We're setting down in that park," Leo announced, pointing to a wide green space dotted with palm trees. "Let's hope the Mist make us look like a large pigeon or something." Veon stared ahead before putting his hand out with his thumb, index and middle fingers up as though he was trying to make some religious gesture. He concentrated, his hand slightly trembling as he bent the Mist as best he could. It seemed to work. I didn't notice any cars veering off the road or Romans pointing to the sky and screaming "Aliens!" I guess it was even possible to hide a giant bronze trireme descending on a city in the middle of morning rush hour. Back when I was on my own, I couldn't do much else other than keep thinking: " _Please don't look at me. Please don't look at me,_ " and hope that the locals would fail to notice me doing fancy demigod things.

The Argo II set down in a grassy field and the oars retracted. The noise of traffic was all around, but the park itself was peaceful and deserted. To the left, a green lawn sloped toward a line of woods. An old villa nestled in the shade of some weird-looking pine trees with thin curvy trunks that shot up thirty or forty feet, then sprouted into puffy canopies. They reminded me of those Dr. Seuss books that I got into when I was learning English in the States (and yes, I was around twelve when I got hooked on Dr. Seuss books. They rhymed and they had intricate pictures and odd storylines. For a girl who didn't understand a lick of English, rhyming things were the only way this ADHD girl could concentrate. Sue me).

To the right, snaking along the top of a hill, was a long brick wall with notches at the top for archers - maybe a medieval defensive line, maybe Ancient Roman. To the north, about a mile away through the folds of the city, the top of the Colosseum rose above the rooftops, looking just like it did in travel photos. We were here, in the heart of the Roman Empire, enemy territory for a Greek demigod. If my dad was a son of  _Roman_  Apollo, and Zenobia was neither Greek nor Roman, or both, then in a way this place wasn't enemy territory, not completely. Jason pointed to the base of the archers' wall, where steps led down into some kind of tunnel.

"I think I know where we are," He said. "That's the Tomb of the Scipios." Percy frowned.

"Scipio…Reyna's pegasus?"

"No," Annabeth put in. "They were a noble Roman family, and…wow, this place is amazing." Jason nodded.

"I've studied maps of Rome before. I've always wanted to come here, but…" Nobody bothered finishing that sentence. Everyone looked in awe at the fact that we'd made it to Rome -  _the_  Rome.

"Plans?" Hazel asked. "Nico has until sunset - at best. And this entire city is supposedly getting destroyed today."

"Annabeth, did you zero in on that spot from your bronze map?" Veon asked.

"Yes," She said. "It's on the Tiber River. I think I can find it, but I should-"

"Take me along," Percy finished. "Yeah, you're right." Annabeth glared daggers at him.

"That's not-"

"Safe?" He finished. "One demigod walking through Rome alone? I'll go with you as far as the Tiber. We can use that letter of introduction when we meet the river god Tiberinus. Maybe he can give you some help or advice. Then you can go alone from there."

"It's my team's job to guard you as long as we possibly can," I said. "I'll go with you as well. I agree with Percy that you're not going alone until we find the entrance to the Mark of Athena. Got it?"

"Fine," Annabeth muttered. "Hazel, Veon, now that we're in Rome, do you think you can pinpoint Nico's location?" Hazel blinked, as if coming out of a trance from watching the Percy and Annabeth Show.

"Um…hopefully, if I get close enough. I'll have to walk around the city. Frank, would you come with me?" Frank beamed.

"Absolutely."

"And, uh…Leo," Hazel added. "It might be a good idea if you came along too. The fish-centaurs-"

"Itcthyocentaurs," I corrected.

"-said we'd need your help with something mechanical."

"Yeah, no problem," Leo said. Frank's smile turned into something more like Chrysaor's mask. Ever since we'd gotten knocked into the Atlantic, they hadn't acted quite the same. It wasn't the two guys competing for Hazel, it was more like the three of them were locked together, acting out some kind of murder mystery, but they hadn't yet discovered which of them was the victim.

"I'll have to travel around the city to get a lock on his location as well," Veon said. "Our connection works like a homing beacon, but I need to experiment. The closer I get to him, the stronger the connection between us gets. Now that we're in Rome, I'm getting a signal that he's close, but only by travelling around can I find exactly where."

"You're coming with my team then," I said. "I won't have you shadow travelling to him the moment you get a lock and end up walking right into a trap. Emily, you go with Hazel's group." Piper drew her knife and set it on the rail.

"Jason, Audrey, Kaze and I can watch the ship for now, then. I'll see what Katoptris can show me. But Zy's right. Hazel, if you guys get a fix on Nico's location, don't go in there by yourselves. Come back and get us. It'll take all of us to fight the giants." She didn't say the obvious: even all of us together wouldn't be enough unless we could get a god on our side.

"Good idea," Audrey said. "How about we plan to meet back here at…what?"

"Three this afternoon?" Emily suggested. "That's probably the latest we could rendezvous and still hope to fight the giants and save Nico. If something happens to change the plan, try to send an Iris-message." The others nodded in agreement, but I noticed several of them glancing at Annabeth. She would be on a different schedule. She might be back at three, or much later, or never. But she would be on her own, searching for the Athena Parthenos. Coach Hedge grunted.

"Percy, Annabeth, remember to behave. If I hear about any funny business, I will ground you until the Styx freezes over." The idea of getting grounded when we were about to risk our lives was so ridiculous, Percy couldn't help smiling. "And you two better not do anything either."

"Why us?" Veon asked.

"Their idea of flirting is making videogame references about whether an Adamantoise or an Neochu would win in a fight," Audrey said. "I think they'll be fine."

"Neochu." "Adamantoise." We said together.

"Neochu has got all his little minions that hit really hard and are hard to hit," I reasoned.

"Adamantoise just stomps on them and they're dead in an instant," He argued back.

"He can just summon more of them and they can beat the Adamantoise's legs until it falls and then hit it in the face."

"The Adamantoise it way to tall to be hit in the knees by those tiny little things, and it's skin is like iron."

"Little bit of pollen and they're powered up to hit harder than a cactuar."

"A cactuar doesn't hit  _that_  hard."

"Have  _you_  ever faced a cactuar?"

"Anyway!" Audrey interrupted.

"We'll be back soon," Percy promised. He looked around at his friends, trying not to feel like this was the last time we'd ever be together. "Good luck, everyone." Leo lowered the gangplank, and we were first off the ship.

Under normal circumstances, I might find walking through Rome pretty nice. We navigated through the winding streets, dodging cars and crazy Vespa drivers, squeezing through mobs of tourists and wading through oceans of pigeons. The day warmed quickly. Once we got away from the car exhaust on the main roads, the air smelled of baking bread and freshly cut flowers. We aimed for the Colosseum because that was an easy landmark, but getting there proved harder than anticipated. As big and confusing as the city had looked from above, it was even more so on the ground. Several times we got lost on dead-end streets, but we found beautiful fountains and huge monuments by accident.

Annabeth commented on the architecture, but the rest of us spotted other things. Once we spotted a glowing purple ghost - a Lar - glaring at us from the window of an apartment building. Another time we saw a white-robed woman - maybe a nymph or a goddess - holding a wicked-looking knife, slipping between ruined columns in a public park. Nothing attacked, but I knew we were being watched, and the watchers were not friendly. When we finally reached the Colosseum, there were a dozen guys in cheap gladiator costumes scuffling with the police - plastic swords versus batons. I wasn't sure what that was about, but we kept walking. Once again, mortals were weird. A good deal of the time, they were even stranger than monsters.

We made our way west, heading toward the Tiber. Amazingly, people in Italy spoke Italian (I know, crazy, right?), so Percy and Annabeth weren't able to understand anything, at least not at first. Any time that someone approached them on the street and asked a question, Percy just looked at them in confusion and they switched to English. When people didn't know any English, Veon and I handled the talking. Italian was fun, but considering I'd been attacked when I first came here, I hadn't dedicated myself to the language on my own, so most of the language abilities came from the goddess.

"Nico is fluent in Italian," Veon muttered. "I know the language even without my powers thanks to our soul bond. Wait, if he's a Greek demigod, and Italy is Roman…humph. Odd. Guess he makes a perfect candidate to try and bring the two together." Next discovery: The Italians used euros, and Percy regretted not having any on him when he found a tourist shop that sold sodas. By then, it was almost noon, getting really hot, and Percy was staring to wish he had a trireme filled with Diet Coke.

"Luckily you brought the girl who handles all expenses," I said. To make matters simple, I took out a plastic card from my bag. "International infinite credit card. Let's go hurt the economy, boys and girls."

"Question," Veon said. "Where was this when I asked for those cool garbs from Lightning Returns?"

"Dude, parents that would've noticed me using a credit card and would've thought I stole it. Enough said. My dad liked to play videogames with me too, you know, and he would've noticed that I had better equipment than he did." The sodas helped, but the others were still hot and tired by the time we arrived at the Tiber River. I was used to heat, so it didn't really bother me. The shore was edged with a stone embankment. A chaotic assortment of warehouses, apartments, stores, and cafés crowded the riverfront. The Tiber itself was wide, lazy, and caramel-colored, and a few tall cypress trees hung over the banks. The nearest bridge looked fairly new, made from iron girders, but right next to it stood a crumbling line of stone arches that stopped halfway across the river - ruins that might've been left over from the days of the Caesars.

"This is it," Annabeth said, pointing at the old stone bridge. "I recognize that from the map. But what do we do now?"

"Tiberinus should find us if we wait by the river long enough," I said. "It's about lunchtime. How about we go over to that café?" Even though it was noon, the place was empty. We picked a table outside by the river, and a waiter hurried over. He looked a bit surprised to see us - especially when we said we wanted lunch.

"American?" He asked, with a pained smile. I didn't want to be branded as an American when he put it that way, and technically, I wasn't a legal one. The only reason I fit in back in the States without questions was the goddess and her meddling, but if someone looked close enough, they'd know I was an immigrant, and an illegal one at that.

" _Yes, sir,_ " I said in Italian. " _We're showing our friends here around. Right, Veon?_ "

" _Right,_ " He said. " _My friend here wants a pizza, along with a Coca-Cola._ "

" _With ice?_ " The waiter asked, looking like he was trying to swallow a euro coin.

" _Yes,_ " I said, acting as though I had to put up with my American friends unwillingly. " _And my other friend would like a panini and some fizzy water, if you please. I'd like a foot-long turkey sandwich with just cheese, lettuce and tomatoes, and just some water_."

" _I'll take the same,_ " Ve said. After the waiter left, I smiled.

"I think Italians eat later during the day, they don't put ice in their drinks, and they only do pizza for tourists.

"That explains that guy's weird face," Percy said. "I was afraid you guys had ordered wrong for us." He shrugged. "The best Italian food, and they don't even eat it?"

"I wouldn't tell the waiter that."

Percy and Annabeth held hands across the table, the two content on just staring at each other in silence. I plucked my bow string. I wondered if it looked like a guitar or something through the Mist, or if it was okay for the actual bow to be seen. Setting the bow beside the table, I began to mess with my arrows, trying to see if I could upgrade them. The arrowheads and shafts were made of gems to store power and energy very nicely, but at the same time, they're pretty brittle, and they'd shatter if put up against a tough enough material. I could use that to my advantage if I make some kind of exploding arrow, and some poison-cloud arrows could be possible as well. It's been so long since I had access to upgrading my bow and arrows, and now I had many more resources. The possibilities seemed endless.

"You shouldn't feel ashamed," Annabeth said to Percy. "You're thinking about Chrysaor, aren't you? You were outmatched, Percy, and in the end, you saved us." Percy smiled.

"How do you  _do_  that? You always know what I'm thinking."

"I know you. Percy, you can't carry the weight of this whole quest. It's impossible. That's why there are seven of us. That's why Zy has four others to help. And you'll have to let me search for the Athena Parthenos on my own."

"I missed you," He confessed. "For months. A huge chunk of our lives was taken away. If I lost you again-" Lunch arrived. The waiter looked much calmer. Having accepted Percy and Annabeth were clueless Americans, he had apparently decided to forgive them and treat them politely.

" _It is a beautiful view,_ " He said, nodding towards the river. " _Enjoy, please._ "

" _Thank you,_ " I said. Once he left, we ate in silence. I worked on my arrows while eating. I found multitasking much more efficient, making sure I don't get bored of a task, or get so into it that I make a mistake or miss out on the enjoyment of working on my equipment. Apparently, Percy's pizza was a bland, doughy square with not a lot of cheese. Maybe that's why Romans didn't eat it. Poor Romans.

"You'll have to trust me," Annabeth said. "You've got to believe I'll come back." Percy swallowed another bite.

"I believe in  _you_. That's not the problem. But come back from  _where?_ " The sound of a Vespa interrupted. I looked along the riverfront to see the motor scooter was an old-fashioned model: big and baby blue. The driver was a guy in a silky gray suit. Behind him sat a younger woman with a headscarf, her hands around the man's waist. They waved between café tables and puttered to a stop next to us.

"Why, hello," The man said. His voice was deep, almost croaky, like a movie actor's. His hair was short and greased back from his craggy face, handsome in a 1950s dad-on-television way. Even his clothes seemed old-fashioned. When he stepped off his bike, the waistline of his slacks was way higher than normal, but somehow he still managed to look manly and stylish and not like a total goober. But just barely. His age was hard to guess by looks alone - maybe thirty-something, though the man's fashion and manner seemed grandfather-ish. The woman slid off the bike.

"We've had the most  _lovely_  morning," She said breathlessly. She looked about twenty-one, also dressed in an old-fashioned style. Her ankle-length marigold skirt and white blouse were pinched together with a large leather belt, giving her the narrowest waist I'd ever seen. When she removed her scarf, her short wavy black hair bounced into perfect shape. She had dark playful eyes and a brilliant smile.

"Tib, Rey, you're late," I said. Annabeth's sandwich fell out of her hands.

"Oh gods. How…how…?"

"You guys  _do_  look familiar," Percy decided. He pointed at the man. "Are you that guy on Mad Men?"

"Percy!" Annabeth looked horrified.

"What?" He protested. "I don't watch a lot of TV."

"That's Gregory Peck!" Annabeth's eyes were wide, and her mouth kept falling open. "And…oh,  _gods!_  Audrey Hepburn!"

"Yeah, I don't watch a lot of movies either," Veon said. "And I rarely ever care for the actors' real names. Who are those people?"

"I  _know_  this movie. "Roman Holiday." But that was from the 1950s," Annabeth continued. "How-?"

"Oh, my dear!" Rey twirled like an air spirit and sat down at our table. "I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else! My name is Rhea Silvia. I was the mother to Romulus and Remus,  _thousands_  of years ago. But you're so kind to think I look as young as the 1950s. And this is my husband…"

"Tiberinus," He said, thrusting out his hand to Percy in a manly way. "God of the River Tiber." Percy shook his hand. The guy smelled of aftershave. Of course, if I were the Tiber Rover, I'd probably want to mask the smell with perfume too.

"Uh, hi," Percy said. "Do you two always look like American movie stars?"

"Do we?" Tiberinus frowned and studied his clothes. "I'm not sure, actually. The migration of Western civilization goes both ways, you know. Rome affected the world, but the world also affects Rome. There  _does_ seem to be a lot of American influence lately. I've rather lost track over the centuries."

"You're falling behind in the times, my friend," I said. "I've lived in America for a while now, and things are still changing a ton. For example, these days, I wouldn't wear that outfit to save my miserable human life."

"I hope you're not saying you'd rather let your host  _die,_ " Veon said seriously. Aw, it was cute when he got protective. Annoying, but cute. Annoyingly cute? Well yes, but not the point.

"If anyone threatened my life trying to get me in an outfit like that, I'd rather put an arrow through their head. In any case, Tib, you've really gotta keep up. People dress a lot different these days. Well, most of them do."

"So…you're here to help?" Percy asked.

"My naiads told me you four were here," Tiberinus said, before casting his dark eyes to Annabeth. "You have the map, my dear? And your letter of introduction?"

"Uh…" Annabeth handed him the letter and the disk of bronze. She was staring at the river god so intently, I had a feeling Percy might be jealous. "S-So…" She stammered. "You've helped other children of Athena with this quest?"

"Oh, my dear!" Rhea Silvia said, putting her hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "Tiberinus is  _ever_  so helpful. He saved my children Romulus and Remus, you know, and brought them to the wolf goddess Lupa. Later, when that old king Numen tried to kill me, Tiberinus took pity on me and made me his wife. I've been ruling the river kingdom at his side ever since. He's just dreamy!"

"Thank you, my dear," Tiberinus said with a wry smile. "And, yes, Annabeth Chase, I've helped many of your siblings…to at least begin their journey safely. A shame all of them died painfully later on. Well, your documents seem in order. We should get going. The Mark of Athena awaits!" Percy gripped Annabeth's hand - probably a little too tight.

"Tiberinus, let me go with her. Just a little further." Rhea Silvia laughed sweetly.

"But you can't, silly boy. You must return to your ship and gather your friends. Confront the giants! The way will appear in your friend Piper's knife. Annabeth has a different path. She must walk alone."

"Indeed," Tiberinus said. "Annabeth must face the guardian of the shrine by herself. It is the only way. And Percy Jackson, you have less time than you realize to rescue your friend on the jar. You must hurry."

"But-"

"It's all right, Percy," Annabeth said, squeezing his hand. "I need to do this." Percy started to protest, when he realized that Annabeth was putting on a brave front. If he tried to argue, he would only make things harder for her. Or worse, he might convince her to stay. Then she would have to live with the knowledge that she'd backed down from her biggest challenge…assuming that we survived at all, with Rome about to get leveled and Gaea about to rise and destroy the world. The Athena statue held the key to defeating the giants, and Annabeth was the only one who could find it.

"You're right," He said, forcing out the words. "Be safe." Rhea Silvia giggled like it was a ridiculous comment.

"Safe? Not at all! But necessary. Come, Annabeth, my dear. We will show you where your path starts. After that, you're on your own."

"I can at least escort you the rest of the way to the entrance," I said, standing and slinging my bow over me once more.

"Very well," Tiberinus said.

"Veon, don't be an idiot while I'm gone."

"No promises," He said smiling.

"Excellent. Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it and we'll find Nico. He's not going to die today if I have any say in it. Take this, if you  _are_  going to be an idiot and look for your brother alone." I passed him a pouch. Annabeth kissed Percy. She hesitated, like she was wondering what else to say. Then, she shouldered her backpack and climbed on the back of the scooter. I summoned my own white one to ride along beside them and waved before we headed off. As we zipped through the streets of Rome, Rhea Silvia gave us a running commentary on how the city had changed over the centuries. It had been a while since Zyanya had been to Rome, but she still knew of its progress. She knew everything, it seemed, whether she was there or not.

"The Sublician Bridge was over there," Rhea Silvia said, pointing to a bend in the Tiber. "You know, where Horatius and his two friends defended the city from an invading army? Now  _there_  was a Roman!"

"And look, dear," Tiberinus added. "That's the place where Romulus and Remus washed ashore." He seemed to be talking about a spot on the riverside where some ducks were making a nest out of torn-up plastic bags and candy wrappers.

"Ah, yes," Rhea Silvia sighed happily. "You were so kind to flood yourself and wash my babies ashore for the wolves to find."

"It was nothing." I smiled. They seemed to have a nice relationship. It made a part of me miss someone I cared for, though that part of me wasn't mine. Zyanya's actions may have seemed selfish to some, and maybe she really had been lying about her importance to existence, but she was someone willing to do anything to get back together with the one she loved, and I could respect that, especially since I could empathize with her on a grander scale than anyone else. Rhea Silvia pointed out a large modern apartment building.

"That used to be a temple to Venus. Then it was a church. Then a palace. Then an apartment building. It burned down three times. Now it's an apartment building again. And that spot right there-"

"Please," Annabeth said. "You're making me dizzy." Silvia laughed.

"I'm sorry, dear. Layers upon layers of history here, but it's nothing compared to Greece. Athens was old when Rome was a collection of mud huts. You'll see, if you survive."

"Not helping," She muttered.

"Here we are," Tiberinus announced. We pulled over in front of a large marble building, the façade covered in city grime but still beautiful. Ornate carvings of Roman gods decorated the roofline. The massive entrance was barred with iron gates, heavily padlocked.

"I'm going in there?" Annabeth asked. Silvia covered her mouth and giggled.

"No, my dear. Not  _in_  it.  _Under_  it." Tiberinus pointed to a set of stone steps on the side of the building - the sort that would have led to a basement apartment if this place were in Manhattan.

"Rome is chaotic aboveground," Tiberinus said. "But that's nothing compared to  _below_  ground. You must descend into the buried city, Annabeth Chase. Find the alter of the foreign god. The failures of your predecessors will guide you. After that…I do not know."

"My siblings…none of them made it all the way to the shrine, did they?" Tiberinus shook his head.

"But you know what prize awaits, if you can liberate it."

"Yes."

"It could bring peace to the children of Greece and Rome," Silvia said. "It could change the course of the coming war."

"If I live." Tiberinus nodded sadly.

"Because you also understand the guardian you must face?" Annabeth looked as though she'd been reminded of the spiders she'd seen back at Fort Sumter.

"Yes." Rhea Silvia looked at her husband.

"She is brave. Perhaps she is stronger than the others."

"I hope so," Said the river god. "Goodbye, Annabeth Chase. And good luck." Silvia beamed.

"We have such a lovely afternoon planned! Off to shop!" The two sped off on their baby-blue motorbike. Annabeth looked to the steps for a moment, before looking to me. Only when she did, there was nothing but a small wisp of green magic that blew away in the breeze. Taking a deep breath, Annabeth turned and descended the steps alone.


	29. Wisdom's Daughter Walks Alone (Sort of) The Mark of Athena Burns (Under) Rome

Third Person:

Halfway down the steps, Annabeth froze, seeming to just take in the situation. She was alone for the first time in ages.

" _Keep going…_ " A voice whispered. Annabeth looked around, on alert. Farther down the steps, a figure appeared, glowing light green. It was a girl, but there were no clear features to her. She was humanoid, but her lower half misted outwards, as though she were nothing but a ghost. She nodded forwards and waved for Annabeth to come. Annabeth was cautious, but down the stairs were the only way to go. The girl's voice didn't seem threatening or enchanting, but that didn't mean it wasn't a trick.

At the bottom of the steps, she reached an old wooden door with an iron pull-ring. Above the ring was a metal plate with a keyhole. The green-ghost-girl took Annabeth's hand, her touch cold and barely solid, more like just a wind that guided her wrist, and had her touch the pull-ring. A fiery shape burned in the middle of the door: the silhouette of Athena's owl. Smoke plumed from the keyhole, and then the door swung inward. The ghost-girl hovered forward and past the door before beckoning for Annabeth to follow.

" _Come…_ " Her voice whispered through the air. Annabeth looked up one last time. At the top of the stairwell, the sky was a square of brilliant blue. Mortals would be enjoying the warm afternoon, couples would be holding hands at the cafés, tourists would be bustling through shops and museums. Romans would be going about their daily business, probably not considering the thousands of years of history under their feet, and definitely unaware of the spirits, gods, and monsters that still dwelt here, or the fact that their city might be destroyed today unless a certain group of demigods succeeded in stopping the giants.

Annabeth stepped through the doorway. She found herself in a basement that was an architectural cyborg. Ancient brick walls were crisscrossed with modern electrical cables and plumbing. The ceiling was held up with a combination of steel scaffolding and old granite Roman columns. The front half of the basement was stacked with crates. Out of curiosity, Annabeth opened a few. Some were packed with multicolored spools of string - like for kites or arts and craft projects - while others were full of cheap plastic gladiator swords. Maybe at one point this had been a storage area for a tourist shop.

In the back of the basement, the floor had been excavated, revealing another set of steps - these of white stone - leading still deeper underground. Ghost-girl hovered over to the steps and flicked a switch on the wall. Glaring white fluorescent bulbs illuminated the stairs. Below was a mosaic floor decorated with deer and fauns - maybe a room from an ancient Roman villa, just stashed away under this modern basement along with the crates of string and plastic swords. Annabeth climbed down.

The room was about a twenty feet square. The walls had once been brightly painted, but most of the frescoes had peeled or faded. The only exit was a hole dug in one corner of the floor where the mosaic had been pulled up. Annabeth crouched next to the opening. It dropped straight down into a larger cavern, but the bottom couldn't be seen. Running water could be heard maybe thirty or forty feet below. The air didn't smell like a sewer - just old and musty, and slightly sweet, like moldering flowers. Perhaps it was an old water line from the aqueducts.

" _Come,_ " Ghost girl said.

"I'm not jumping," Annabeth said. "Who are you, anyway?"

" _Curse._ "

"You're cursed?"

" _Sort of. I am made from a curse. Wisdom's daughter walks alone. The Mark of Athena burns through Rome._ " She pointed into the darkness, where the Mark of Athena blazed to life at the bottom of the cavern, revealing glistening brickwork along a subterranean canal forty feet below. The fiery owl seemed to be taunting her: " _Well, this is the way, kid, so you'd better figure something out_." Annabeth considered her options. It was too dangerous to jump, there were no ladders or ropes. She thought about borrowing some metal scaffolding from above to use as a fire pole, but it was all bolted in place, and she didn't want to cause the building to collapse on top of her.

She began to get frustrated. All of the other demigods had amazing powers that could've helped in this situation. Percy and Audrey could control water, and if they were here, they could raise the water level and simply float down or just turn to water and fly down respectively. Hazel, from what she had said, could find her way underground with flawless accuracy and even create or change the course of tunnels. She could easily make a new path. Veon could've just shadow traveled down or used his lance. Leo would just pull the right tools from his belt and build something to do the job. Frank could turn into a bird. Jason and Zy could simply control the wind and float down. Even Piper and Emily could've convinced Tiberinus and Rhea Silvia to be a little more helpful.

What did Annabeth have? A bronze dagger that did nothing special, and a cursed silver coin. She had her backpack with Daedalus's laptop, a water bottle, a few pieces of ambrosia for emergencies, and a box of matches - probably useless, but her dad had drilled into her head that she should always have a way to make a fire. She had no amazing powers, and even her one true magic item, her New York Yankees cap of invisibility, had stopped working, and was still back in her cabin on the Argo II.

" _You've got your intelligence_ ," Curse said. " _Like Odysseus, who won the Trojan War with cleverness, not strength. He had overcome all sorts of monsters and hardships with his quick wits. That is what Athena values. Child of Athena, you cannot bend the skies, seas, or shadows. You cannot work with the earth, machines, or emotions. You cannot change form, summon those who can aid you to your side. Yet all of these powers are meaningless without intelligence. Assess what you have at your disposal, and then let your mind work to put pieces together that were never intended to meet. You need not only intelligence, but creativity._ "

Annabeth looked down into the opening. She needed a way to get down there safely and make sure she had a way to get out again if necessary.  _Assess what you have at your disposal_. She climbed back to the basement and stared at the open crates. Kite string and plastic swords. The idea that came to her was so ridiculous, she almost had to laugh; but it was better than nothing. She set to work, her hands seeming to know exactly what to do.  _Let your mind work to put pieces together that were never intended to meet_. She'd never made anything out of kite string and plastic swords, but it seemed easy, natural. Within minutes she'd used a dozen balls of strong and a crateful of swords to create a makeshift rope ladder - a braided line, woven for strength yet not too thick, with swords tied at two-foot intervals to serve as hand and footholds.

As a test, she tied one end around a support column and leaned on the rope with all her weight. The plastic swords bent under her, but they provided some extra bulk to the knots in the cord, so at least she could keep a better grip. The ladder wouldn't win any design awards, but it might get her to the bottom of the cavern safely. First, she stuffed her backpack with the leftover spools of string. They were one more resource, and not too heavy at that. Besides, the others had said that having some string might be useful for a child of Athena. She headed back to the hole in the mosaic floor, securing one end of her ladder to the nearest piece of scaffolding, lowering the rope into the cavern, and then shinnied down.

When Annabeth finally made it to the bottom, she missed the brickwork edge and landed in the canal, but it turned out to be only a few inches deep. Still, freezing cold water soaked into her running shoes. Curse floated down next to her, providing sufficient lighting. The shallow channel ran down the middle of a brickwork tunnel. Every few yards, ceramic pipes jutted from the walls. She guessed that the pipes were drains, part of the ancient Roman plumbing system, though it was amazing to her that a tunnel like this had survived, crowded underground with all the other centuries' worth of pipes, basements and sewers. She chilled as she realized that maybe this could be a part of Daedalus's labyrinth. When Daedalus had died, the entire maze collapsed, but it was entirely possible that that was just in America. This could've been an older version of the labyrinth. Daedalus had once told her that his maze had a life of its own. Maybe it could regenerate, like monsters. It was an archetypal force, as Chiron would say - something that could never really die.

" _A labyrinth, maybe, but one that you can be guided through by the Mark,_ " Curse said. She floated to the left, where about fifty feet away, the Mark of Athena blazed against the wall. Deciding to not take chances, Annabeth tied a new ball of string to the end of her rope ladder. She could unravel it behind her as she explored. An old trick, but a good one. By the time she reached the spot, the image of the owl had faded, and she'd run out of string on her first spool.

As she was attaching a new line, she glanced across the tunnel. There was a broken section in the brickwork, as if a sledgehammer had knocked a hole in the wall. She crossed to take a look. Sticking her dagger through the opening for light, she could see a lower chamber, long and narrow, with a mosaic floor, painted walls, and benches running down either side. It was shaped sort of like a subway car. Curse floated through the wall to light the room with her green glow. At the near end of the room was a bricked-off doorway. At the far end was a stone table, or maybe an alter.

The water tunnel kept going, but Curse waved for Annabeth to come through. This had to be the way. She remembered what Tiberinus had said: " _Find the altar of the foreign god._ " There didn't seem to be any exits from the altar room, but it was a short drop onto the bench below. She should be able to climb out again with no problem. Still holding her string, she lowered herself down. The room's ceiling was barrel-shaped with brick arches, but Annabeth didn't like the look of the supports. Directly above her head, on the arch nearest to the bricked-in doorway, the capstone cracked in half, and stress fractures ran across the ceiling. The place had probably been intact for two thousand years, but she decided she'd rather not spend too much time here. With her luck, it would collapse in the next two minutes.

The floor was a long narrow mosaic with seven pictures in a row, like a time line. At Annabeth's feet was a raven. Next was a lion. Several others looked like Roman warriors with various weapons. The rest were too damaged or covered in dust for Annabeth to make out details. The benches on either side were littered with broken pottery. The walls were painted with scenes of a banquet: a robed man with a curved cap like an ice cream scoop, sitting next to a larger guy who radiated sunbeams. Standing around them were torchbearers and servants, and various animals like crows and lions wandered in the background. Annabeth wasn't sure what the picture represented, but it didn't remind her of any Greek legends that she knew.

At the far end of the room, the altar was elaborately carved with a frieze showing the man with the ice-cream-scoop hat holding a knife to the neck of a bull. On the altar stood a stone figure of a man sunk to his knees in rock, a dagger and torch in his outraised hands. Again, Annabeth had no idea what those images meant.

" _A story,_ " Curse said, hovering forward. " _Study the story, or your own shall end here._ " Annabeth took one step toward the altar. Her foot went  _CRUNCH_ , and she looked down to realize she'd just put her shoe through a human rib cage. She swallowed back a scream. She had glanced down only a moment before and hadn't seen any bones. Now the floor was littered with them. The rib cage was obviously old. It crumbled to dust as she removed her foot. Nearby lay a corroded bronze dagger, very much like her own. Either this dead person had been carrying the weapon, or it had killed him. A little farther down the mosaic path sprawled a more complete skeleton in the remains of an embroidered red doublet, like a man from the Renaissance. His frilled collar and skull had been badly burned, as if the guy had decided to wash his hair with a blowtorch.

She lifted her eyes to the altar statue, which held a dagger and a torch. Some kind of test. These two guys had failed. Correction: not just two guys. More bones and scraps of clothing were scattered all the way to the altar. She couldn't guess how many skeletons were represented, but she was willing to bet they were all demigods from the past, children of Athena on the same quest.

"I will not be another skeleton on your floor," Annabeth called to the statue, hoping she sounded brave.

" _A girl_ ," Said a watery voice, echoing through the room. " _Girls are not allowed._ "

" _A female demigod,_ " A second voice said. " _Inexcusable._ "

" _And she brings with her a curse. This is unprecedented_." The chamber rumbled, dust fell from the cracked ceiling. Annabeth bolted for the hole she'd come through, but it had disappeared. Her string had been severed. She clambered up on the bench and pounded on the wall where the hole had been, hoping the hole's absence was just an illusion, but the wall felt solid. Trapped. Along the benches, a dozen ghosts shimmered into existence - glowing purple men in Roman togas, like the Lares back at Camp Jupiter. They glared at Annabeth and Curse as if they'd interrupted their meeting. Having little choice, Annabeth stepped down from the bench and put her back to the bricked-in doorway. She tried to look confident, though the scowling purple ghosts and demigod skeletons at her feet made her want to turtle in her T-shirt and scream.

"I'm a child of Athena," She said, as boldly as she could manage.

"A Greek," One of the ghosts said with disgust. "That is even worse." At the other end of the chamber, an old-looking ghost rose with some difficulty (do ghosts have arthritis?) and stood by the altar, his dark eyes fixed on Annabeth. Her first thought was that he looked like the pope. He had a glittering robe, a pointed hat, and a shepherd's crook.

"This is the cavern of Mithras," Said the old ghost. "You have disturbed our sacred rituals. You cannot look upon our mysteries and live."

"I don't want to look upon your mysteries," Annabeth assured him. "I'm following the Mark of Athena. Show me the exit, and I'll be on my way." Her voice sounded calm despite the situation. She had no idea how to get out, but she knew she had to succeed where her siblings failed. Her path led further on - deeper into the underground layers of Rome. Tiberinus had said that the failures of her predecessors would guide her, but after that, he didn't know. Not many children of Athena must've made it past here. The ghosts mumbled to each other in Latin, saying a few unkind things about female demigods and Athena, not to mention Curse. Finally, the ghost with the pope hat struck his shepherd's crook against the floor, and the other Lares fell silent.

"Your Greek goddess is powerless here," Said the pope. "Mithras is the god of Roman warriors! He is the god of the legion, the god of the empire!"

"He wasn't even Roman," Annabeth protested. "Wasn't he, like, Persian or something?"

"Sacrilege!" The old man yelped, banging his staff on the floor a few more times. "Mithras protects us! I am the pater of this brotherhood-"

"The father," Annabeth translated.

"Do not interrupt! As pater, I must protect our mysteries."

"What mysteries? A dozen dead guys in togas sitting around in a cave?" The ghosts muttered and complained.

" _Do not try to aggravate them,_ " Curse warned. " _Study their story, or they shall end yours._ " The pater got the ghosts under control with a taxicab whistle worthy of an Apollo child. The old guy had a good set of lungs.

"You are clearly an unbeliever. And you bring with you a curse. Like the others, you must die." Annabeth worked frantically to remember everything she could about Mithras. He had a secret cult for warriors, he was popular in the legion, he was one of the gods who'd supplanted Athena as a war deity. Aphrodite had mentioned him during their teatime chat in Charleston. Aside from that, Annabeth had no idea. Mithras just wasn't one of the gods they talked about at Camp Half-Blood. She doubted the ghosts would wait while she whipped out Daedalus's laptop and did a search. " _Study their story,_ " Curse had said. Everything she needed was in this room. She just needed to put the pieces together. She scanned the floor mosaic - seven pictures in a row. She studied the ghosts and noticed all of them wore some sort of badge on their toga - a raven, or a torch, or a bow.

"You have rites of passage," She blurted out. "Seven levels of membership. And the top level is pater." The ghosts let out a collective gasp, while Curse smiled. Then, the ghosts all began shouting at once.

"How does she know this?" One demanded.

"The girl has learned our secrets!"

"Silence!" The pater ordered.

"But she might know about the ordeals!" Another cried.

"The ordeals!" Annabeth said. "I know about them!" Another round of incredulous gasping.

"Ridiculous!" The pater yelled. "The girl lies! Daughter of Athena, choose your way of death. If you do not choose, the god will choose for you!"

"Fire or dagger," Annabeth guessed. Even the pater looked stunned. Apparently, he hadn't remembered there were victims of past punishments lying on the floor.

"How…how did you…?" He gulped. "Who  _are_  you?"

"A child of Athena," Annabeth said again. "But not just any child. I am…uh, the mater in my sisterhood."

" _The_ magna  _matter,_ " Curse corrected.

"Yes, the magna matter. There are no mysteries to me. Mithras cannot hide anything from my sight."

"The magna mater!" A ghost wailed in despair. "The big mother!"

"Kill her!" One of the ghosts charged, his hands out to strangle her, but he passed right through her. Curse grabbed his wrists and pushed them away.

" _You are dead,_ " She reminded him. " _Sit down._ " The ghost looked embarrassed and took his seat.

"We do not need to kill you ourselves," The pater growled. "Mithras shall do that for us!" The statue on the altar began to glow. Annabeth pressed her hands against the bricked-in doorway at her back. That  _had_  to be the exit. The mortar was crumbling, but it wasn't weak enough for her to break through with brute force. She looked desperately around the room - the cracked ceiling, the floor mosaic, the wall paintings, and the carved altar. She began to talk, pulling deductions from the top of her head.

"It is no good," She said. "I know all. You test your initiates with fire because the torch is the symbol of Mithras. His other symbol is the dagger, which is why you can also be tested with the blade. You want to kill me, just as…uh, as Mithras killed the sacred bull." It was a total guess, but the altar showed Mithras killing a bull, so Annabeth figured it must be important. The ghosts wailed and covered their ears. Some slapped their faces as if to wake up from a bad dream.

"The big mother knows!" One exclaimed. "It is impossible!"

" ** _Unless you look around the room,_** " Annabeth thought to herself, her confidence growing. She glared at the ghost who had just spoken. He had a raven badge on his toga - the same symbol as on the floor at her feet, at the beginning of the chain of membership levels.

"You are just a raven," She scolded. "That is the lowest rank. Be silent and let me speak to your pater." The ghost cringed.

"Mercy! Mercy!" At the front of the room, the pater trembled - either from rage or fear, Annabeth wasn't sure which. His pope hat tilted sideways on his head like a gas gauge dropping toward empty.

"Truly, you know much, big mother. Your wisdom is great, but that is all the more reason why you cannot leave. The weaver warned us you would come."

"The weaver…" Annabeth knew what the pater was talking about, the thing in the dark from Percy's dream, the guardian of the shrine. This was the one time she wished she  _didn't_  know the answer, but she tried to maintain her calm. "The weaver fears me. She doesn't want me to follow the Mark of Athena. But you will let me pass."

"You must choose an ordeal!" The pater insisted. "Fire or dagger! Survive one, and then, perhaps!" Annabeth looked down at the bones of her siblings. They'd all chosen one or the other: fire or dagger. Maybe they thought they could beat the ordeal, but they had all died. Annabeth needed a third choice. Curse pointed to the altar statue, which was glowing brighter by the second, its heat radiating across the room.

" _The choices,_ " She said. Annabeth looked to the statue and stared. Her instinct was to focus on the dagger or the torch, but instead she concentrated on the statue's base. She wondered why its legs were stuck in stone. Then it occurred to her: maybe the little statue of Mithras wasn't  _stuck_  in the rock. Maybe he was  _emerging_  from the rock.

"Neither torch nor dagger," Annabeth said firmly. "There is a third test, which I will pass."

"A third test?" The pater demanded.

"Mithras was born from rock," She said, hoping she was right. "He emerged fully grown from the stone, holding his dagger and torch." The screaming and wailing told her she had guessed correctly.

"The big mother knows all!" A ghost cried. "That is our most closely guarded secret!"

" ** _Then maybe you shouldn't put a statue of it on your altar,_** " Annabeth thought, though she was thankful for the stupid male ghosts. If they'd let women warriors into their cult, they might have learned some common sense. Annabeth gestured dramatically to the wall she'd come from.

"I was born from stone, just as Mithras was! Therefore, I have already passed your ordeal!"

"Bah!" The pater spat. "You came from a hole in the wall! That's not the same thing." Okay, so apparently the pater wasn't a complete moron, but Annabeth remained confident. Curse pointed to the ceiling and another idea came to Annabeth - all the details clicking together.

"I have control over the very stones." She raised her arms. "I will prove my power is greater than Mithras. With a single strike, I will bring down this chamber." The ghosts wailed and trembled and looked at the ceiling, but they didn't see what Annabeth and Curse saw. These ghosts were warriors, not engineers. The children of Athena had many skills other than combat, and Annabeth had studied architecture for years. She knew this ancient chamber was on the verge of collapse. She recognized what the stress fractures in the ceiling meant, all emanating from a single point - the top of the stone arch just above her. The capstone was about to crumble, and when that happened, assuming she could time it correctly…

"Impossible!" The pater shouted. "The weaver has paid us much tribute to destroy any children of Athena who would dare enter our shrine. We have never let her down. We cannot let you pass."

" _Then you fear her power!_ " Curse said dramatically. " _You admit that my lady could destroy your sacred chamber!_ " The pater scowled. He straightened his hat uneasily. She'd put him in an impossible position. He couldn't back down without looking cowardly.

"Do your worst, child of Athena," He decided. "No one can bring down the cavern of Mithras, especially with one strike. Especially not a girl!" Annabeth hefted her dagger. The ceiling was low. She could reach the capstone easily, but she'd have to make her one strike count. The doorway behind her was blocked, but in theory, if the room started to collapse, those bricks should weaken and crumble. She  _should_  be able to bust her way through before the entire ceiling came down - assuming, of course, that there was something behind the brick wall, not just solid earth. And assuming that Annabeth was quick enough and strong enough and lucky enough. Otherwise, she was about to be a demigod pancake.

"Well boys," She said. "Looks like you chose the wrong war god." She struck the capstone. The Celestial bronze blade shattered it like a sugar cube. For a moment, nothing happened.

"Ha!" The pater gloated. "You see? Athena has no power here!" The room shook. A fissure ran across the length of the ceiling and the far end of the cavern collapsed, burying the altar and the pater. More cracks widened. Bricks fell from the arches. Ghosts screamed and ran, but they couldn't seem to pass through the walls. Apparently, they were bound to this chamber even in death. Curse turned and hovered through the wall behind Annabeth, the bricks glowing with her green aura as she weakened them. Annabeth turned and slammed against the blocked entrance with all her might, and the bricks gave away. As the cavern of Mithras imploded behind her, she lunged into darkness and found herself falling.


	30. Twins Snuff Out (Veon and Zy's) Breath Who (All Hold) The Key to Endless Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for being away from this story for so long. I've been working on a Once Upon and Time story, along with a story on FictionPress, but I am back and so is my muse!
> 
> So the title of the chapter doesn't come into play until the end of the chapter, but I'm trying.
> 
> Enjoy! Review! Etcetera!

First Person: Lucy

I walked through the streets of Rome, in a bit of a daze. Summoning that Curse to assist Annabeth took a lot out of me, but I was properly sustaining her, and she was able to talk, touch, and move of her own volition. I quickly realized that I had no idea where I was, or where we'd parked the Argo II. Maybe, if I focused, I'd be able to figure it out, but right now, I was just walking in whatever direction that my legs took me.

" _Onesan?_ "

" _Kaze?_ " I suddenly found my brother standing beside me. " _You ran away from the ship, didn't you?_ " He shrugged.

" _Maybe?_ " He examined me. " _Hey, are you okay?_ " He took my hand and led me into an alley between buildings, where there weren't any people around.

" _Just a bit tired. Training to maintain and sustain some duplicates. If I can master this technique, I'll be able to help assist_ Camp Half-Blood."

"Camp-u Have-e Blood-a?" Kaze tried to say in English.

" _Yep. That camp for demigods, remember? Might be your home some day. It might be a good home for all the demigods back at the wards. Right now, it's at risk of being destroyed by Gaea._ "

" _Gaea?_ " He repeated. " _Are…are you sure?_ "

" _Yes, Kaze-kun. She wishes to destroy us all, wants to destroy the few homes that are left to demigods like us. She is not an ally._ "

" _That's what she said about_ your  _friends! Maybe…maybe this is all just some big misunderstanding!_ "

" _Kaze, this isn't a misunderstanding. She's evil!_ "

" _So is the goddess you think so highly of! You want me to give up on Mother?! Then_ you  _give up on_ her!"

" _Zyanya is a good person, someone who's in trouble and needs my help-!_ "

" _So is Mother! She's been beaten down again and again, her children destroyed and condemned, and all she wants is freedom! To be allowed to be herself, to do what she wants without someone constantly trying to kill her! She wants her children to roam the world without worrying about the stupid gods and their children killing them just because they're different! She's offered the other demigods chances to live with her, but they've all refused and shoved her kindness in her face! And those who understand and_ do  _want to help her are struck down because of it! It's unfair! It's evil!_ "

" _When she offers her "hospitality," she asks them to do horrible things! Killing their friends or leaving them to burn! Tricking someone close to them, destroying someone in cruel and vicious ways! She wants you to have no mercy in your heart, and only then does she allow you to join her! Anyone she offers to join her has to become heartless, cold-blooded killers before they can do so!_ " I couldn't believe what I was hearing.  _Kaze_. Defending.  _Gaea_. Saying things as though Gaea's the innocent one, as though the giants and all the other monsters are just the kids who are always getting bullied in school. They were a far cry from that. They were the  _bullies!_  They destroyed their way to the top and reveled in it! They wanted the world to burn! Yet when I voiced these things to Kaze, he didn't listen, he didn't understand.

" _Your goddess just wants you to give up your life for hers! She doesn't care if you die, she doesn't care if you suffer! She's only thinking about herself, and you don't mean a thing to her! At least Mother cares for me and all her other children! She saved me when_ you killed me!  _You betrayed me and then left me to die! I still remember when you punched me as I begged for mercy! I remember how you held me down and choked me until I nearly passed out, and then you cast that spell on me, making my insides boil and melt as I was screaming for my life! I remembered all the pain that I'd ever felt all at once, I remembered when my_ real  _sister died screaming for the Hermes and he didn't come for her!_ "

" _She wasn't your sister, she was your mother! She was stupid and got pregnant as a teenager, as an orphan on the run! She was stupid and didn't try and fix her life once you'd been born! It's her fault she died and you were left alone, not Hermes'! No, wait, it was_ your  _fault, wasn't it?! The moment she was pregnant with you, he left!_ " I didn't know where the words were coming from. I'd never thought these thoughts before in my life, but at the moment, my mouth wouldn't stop, and the tide of anger flooded out. " _You could've run from that orphanage any time you wanted to! You could've survived on your own! But really, you were afraid of being alone, huh?! You couldn't handle the thought of being without your precious mother! When I came along, you just wanted someone to fill the hole in your heart! You just wanted to have_ someone  _there for you in her place because you're a big baby who can't handle himself in the dark without mommy and daddy there to hold his hand! Now that you've got a "mother," who cares if she kills everyone else?! As long as she bats her eyes and holds your hand, you don't give a damn what she makes you do! You'll believe every little thing she tells you! You'll believe she's the one who's being wronged as she slaughters innocents, and then makes_ you  _do the same!_ "

" _She_ is  _the one being wronged! She's the only family that's ever cared for me, since_ you  _never really did! You just wanted to nurture me so that I trusted you when you killed me, tore my very soul apart while you sat and watched without a hint of mercy within you!_ "

" _I hate you!_ "

" _I hate you!_ "

In an instant, Kaze was gone. He'd run away so fast, he'd kicked up a trail of dust in his wake. I fell against the wall of the building and slid to the ground, leaning against it. I didn't mean a word of it. Why the hell did I say all those harsh things? Where did all that anger come from? Where did the words I had said come from? I'd never thought those things in my life, never even considered them.

He still remembered that day. He remembered every detail about the night I killed him. He remembers how I beat him up even as he screamed for me to stop. He remembers when I choked him with my bare hands before finally enacting the trials on him. He…he said it felt like his insides were boiling as he screamed. And…then he remembered the worst moments of his life. He felt all the pain he'd ever felt before, physically and mentally, all at once. He remembered his own mother's death.

And I…I had told him she  _was_  his mother. I'd told him he was the reason Hermes left him…! I told him he was a helpless little kid. Now he firmly believes that I never cared for him. He has no doubt now that I'd only ever cared for him so that it would hurt more when I betrayed him. Now he hates me. I'd just thrown away the only family I had left.

I sobbed so hard that I could barely breathe. My hands tingled at the unwanted memories of that night I'd first killed my brother. The pain in my chest built up, and I needed to feel something,  _anything_  else. But my knife was still in my room on the Argo II. The knife  _Kaze_  had given me. Why did I even use his knife of all things anyway? Why was his present the only thing that ever relieved the pain? I'd tried using other things, but only his knife was ever effective.

Maybe it was because it somehow felt as though Kaze was getting his revenge, that Kaze was the one punishing me for what I had done to him. Maybe I wanted him to deliver some kind of penance, give me what I deserve for hurting him like I had. Like I just  _did_. Would that make the pain go away? Would it make the guilt that's been weighing me down lighten if I got Kaze's,  _someone's_ , retribution? I'd take anything to make things right, to make this pain in my chest go away.

I was so confused. There were parts of me that just wanted everything to stop, do just give up and stop swimming against the current when all it was doing was causing me pain, when my goal was nowhere in sight, and the weight of so much was on my shoulders. So much hurt, and I felt so confused on what I wanted to do, why I was doing it, and what the way out was. I couldn't do anything, I was so lost, so helpless. Yet I keep going, when all I face is sorrow and no light at the end of the tunnel. Why?

" _Shh, love. You shouldn't feel as though you're helpless._ "

The voice was distorted, as though they were talking through an echo chamber. It was foreign, but at the same time, so familiar. I looked around, trying to blink the tears away so that I could see properly.

"Mom?" I asked, but it only came out a whisper.

" _You are not helpless. You are not weak. There is light at the end of the tunnel. You just need to open your eyes to see it._ "

"Where are you?" I looked around desperately. I wanted my mother. I wanted my father. I wanted  _someone_ to hold my hand right now, to hug me and make the world go away. It had been so long since I'd been embraced like that, so long since I'd allowed myself to be the protected instead of the protector. I was so tired, hurting so much, and for the first time in a long time, I realized I wanted someone to help me instead of trying to handle it all myself.

In front of me, a ghost appeared, dressed in all white, her skin glowing ivory against her white attire. Her hair contrasted the rest of her, midnight black locks draping over her shoulders, framing a face with almond eyes, perfect, elegant features, and a soft expression. Her ethereal beauty surprised me not only because I knew that she was a goddess, but because she looked like me.

"Zy…Zyanya…?" I stuttered. Zyanya's mental image of me dressed in white and did have a goddess-like feel to her, but she had never made me look so…celestial. She shook her head with a small smile.

" _No, Rei._ " I was afraid to ask, but I forced the one word out.

"…mom…?" When she said nothing and merely sighed, her smile growing, I found myself sobbing once more. I moved forward to hug her, to embrace my mother as I'd wanted to all my life, and she opened her arms to wrap them around me too. Yet the moment I gripped her, she faded, leaving nothing but smoke in her wake, and leaving me still needing someone to hold me, now more than ever.

I let my momentum carry me to the ground, as I was surrounded by the mist that was once my mother. It caressed my skin gently, as though she was trying her hardest to embrace me but just couldn't. When I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine she was there, grasping me for real.

"Zy? Are you okay?" I looked up to see Ve, walking up to me quickly and kneeling down in front of me. "Hey, what's wrong?" Without answering, I grabbed him into a tight hug, needing to feel someone solid to grip.

"I fought with Kaze…" I managed.

"Oh." He finally got over his initial shock and wrapped his arms around me as well. I never thought that it'd feel so calming to hug someone, and to have them hug me back. "Do you mind telling me…what happened?"

"I started yelling at him how he shouldn't be loyal to Gaea and whatnot, and then he…he started  _defending_ her! It just got me so angry and…I said some stupid things, and now he hates me."

" _Defending_  Gaea?" He asked.

"Oh, right. Did I mention that she's apparently his step-mom? He came to the Argo II to look after me, apparently protecting me from you guys." I explained the argument we'd had, what Kaze had said about Gaea, and then eventually where the argument had led to.

"You know he didn't mean it. Just because you couldn't protect him didn't mean you killed him." I was confused for a moment before remembering that I hadn't told Veon the truth. Lies and truth are hard to keep track of sometimes.

"But he still died. And…I told him the truth about his sister. The woman he thought was his original sister was actually his mother. She was a teenager when she had him. Apparently, he remembers her dying and begging Hermes for help, but he couldn't because of Zeus forbidding him or something. I…oh, gods. I blamed him for making Hermes leave him and his mother. I said that his birth was the reason Hermes had left…he's never gonna forgive me. I'm never gonna forgive  _myself!_ "

"Hey, this is not your fault. You were both angry. You care for each other so much that you'd do anything to protect each other and get angry over small things. You're both just conflicting on what's the real threat between the two of you. In the end, you love each other more than anything in the world, and you're both just afraid of losing each other. Kaze must feel just as terrible as you about what was said, and he wishes your argument never happened too. You'll make up. He's your brother."

"Well, I…I guess."

"Right. Now, let's go find him. I'll be with you the whole way, if you want."

"No, I…I have to talk to him alone."

"Well…if you say so. But I'll be in the next room if he decides to try and bolt or hurt you. You said he was working for Gaea, right? What if this argument turns his heart in the wrong direction?"

"I honestly can't say. But there's only one way to find out. And I need to talk to him one way or another." He nodded.

"Then let's go."

"Hey, Veon?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you." He smiled and quickly kissed me.

"Anytime." He looked down, his smiling fading just slightly. "Hey, where'd you get that?" He asked. I looked down to where he was staring and saw an oval-shaped white gem hanging from a leather strap at my chest. Reaching to take it in my hand, I felt a warmth within it, making me feel safer than I'd felt in a long time.

"It's from my mom…" I said, though I couldn't be sure if I said it very loud. Veon's face looked grim, and I remember that it had been in that dream where Zyanya had…

"We should go look for your brother."

"Wait, what about  _your_  brother?! Nico's out there somewhere, and we only have today to find him! Kaze can wait just a little longer. Right now, we need to find Nico."

"But-"

"Kaze will be okay, and he's probably gone somewhere where he won't be found, anyway. You were there for me, but he needs more time to cool down. And right now, Nico is literally dying in a bronze jar. It's imperative that we find him as soon as possible and rescue him." Veon looked ready to protest further, but then hesitated.

"If you're  _absolutely_  sure…then okay."

"Right. I think I might be able to find him using this new power of mine. Whatever it is, it's able to break barriers that we'd never be able to pass before." I took his hand and then focused on my power as our interlocked fingers began to glow with my green energy. It spread up his arm and then his torso until he was completely covered in the glowing, misty energy. "Now, concentrate on Nico's location. This should enhance your shadow-traveling ability. He's in a bronze jar, which must be purposeful to keep you from instantly teleporting to him or making the rescue easy, but this should help bypass that."

"Okay." He nodded and closed his eyes, concentrating. I felt the shadows wrap around and take us away. I held on to Veon tightly, as the shadow-traveling was still a bit dizzying, even for me, before we came out of the shadows inside of a dark place. The air was poisonous, and the only thing protecting us was my Curse power's aura around us.

"Nico!" Veon hurried over to his brother, who was on his last pomegranate seed. "We need to get him out of here."

"Agreed." He moved both of his hands to grab Nico, but the moment he let go of my hand, my aura left him and he suddenly couldn't breathe. He choked at first, and then began coughing and keeling over as he inhaled the poisonous air.

"Veon!" I quickly reached to grab his shoulder, but my aura faded over me as well, seemingly canceling the initial spell of protection once Veon had let go, as its main purpose was to enhance Veon's power. My lungs began to burn, and as I tried to breathe, that only made it worse. The two of us were left coughing our lungs out beside Nico, our attempt at rescuing him going horribly wrong in mere moments.

In an act of desperation, Veon began to punch the walls of the bronze jar with the little strength he had left, but it wasn't long before he slumped against the wall, on the verge of passing out. I grabbed his hand, spots dancing across my vision and then grabbed Nico's hand, hoping to make some kind of protection for us. If I could get a layer of magic over all three of us that allowed us to breathe, then Nico would be given more time than his pomegranate seed would hold out for. Quite possibly, the giants might have other ways to kill us even if I managed to get us an aura for breathing, but at the least, it would buy us some time.

I focused all my power on preserving the three of us, just before my vision went black.


	31. Giant's Bane Stands (Covered in Webs)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More of Annabeth's journey. Lots of fluff in my opinion, and not really story-based, but hey, it needs to be in there.

Third Person:

Annabeth thought she knew pain. She had fallen off the lava wall at Camp Half-Blood. She'd been stabbed in the arm with a poison blade on the Williamsburg Bridge. She had even held the weight of the sky on her shoulders. But that was nothing compared to landing hard on her ankle. She immediately knew she'd broken it. Pain like a hot steel wire jabbed its way up her leg and into her hip. The world narrowed to just her, her ankle, and the agony. She almost blacked out. Her head spun. Her breath became short and rapid.

" _Annabeth Chase?_ " Curse asked. " _Concentrate on my words. Do not go into shock. Take deep breaths. Can you hear me? Do not move if you can avoid it._ " Annabeth tried to breathe more slowly. She lay as still as possible until the pain subsided from absolute torture to just horrible throbbing. " _Can you see me?_ " Curse asked.

"Yes," Annabeth said, though slightly strained. Part of her wanted to howl at the world for being so unfair. All this way, just to be stopped by something as common as a broken ankle. She forced her emotions down. At camp, she'd been trained to survive in all sorts of bad situations,  _including_  injuries like this. She looked around. Her dagger had skittered a few feet away. In the green light created by Curse, she could make out the features of the room. She was lying on a cold floor of sandstone blocks, the ceiling was two stories tall, the doorway through which she'd fallen was ten feet off the ground, now completely blocked with debris that had cascaded into the room, making a rockslide. Scattered around her were old pieces of lumber - some cracked and desiccated, others broken into kindling.

Annabeth scolded herself for having lunged through the doorway, assuming there would be a level corridor or another room. It had never occurred to her that she'd be tumbling into space. The lumber had probably once been a staircase, long ago collapsed. Had she known that there wasn't a level floor on the other side of the wall, and that it was only a ten foot drop, she most likely could've braced herself properly or rolled when she hit the ground and this wouldn't have happened. Annabeth had been properly trained, and there were a million things that she could've done differently that now flowed through her head.

" _It's useless to blame yourself,_ " Curse said. " _I should've inspected the area beyond the wall and warned you before you barreled through. Can you feel your toes?_ "

"Yes."

" _Your foot does not appear to be strangely bent, and I cannot see any trace of blood._ " Annabeth reached out for a piece of lumber, but even that small bit of movement made her yelp. " _What did I say about not moving? If you require something, ask me to retrieve it first. You are lucky that your ankle is in as good a condition as it is, and we do not need to make it any worse._ " The board crumbled in Annabeth's hand, the wood probably centuries old, if not millennia. She had no way of knowing if this room was older than the shrine of Mithras, or if - like the labyrinth - the rooms were a hodgepodge from many eras randomly thrown together.

"Okay," She muttered. "Think, Annabeth. Prioritize." She remembered the wilderness survival course Grover had taught her back at camp. "First step: Scan your surroundings for immediate threats."

" _This room does not seem to be in danger of collapse, and the rockslide has stopped,_ " Curse reported. " _The walls are solid blocks of stone with no major cracks that I can detect. The ceiling isn't sagging either, so it does not appear to be in danger of collapse either._ " The only exit was on the far wall - an arched doorway that led into darkness. Between them and the doorway, a small brickwork trench cut across the floor, letting water flow through the room from left to right. Maybe plumbing from the Roman days. If the water was drinkable, that was good. Piled in one corner were some broken ceramic vases, spilling out shriveled brown clumps that might have once been fruit. Yuck. In another corner were some wooden crates that looked more intact, and some wicker boxes bound with leather straps.

"So, no immediate danger?" She asked. "Unless something comes barreling out of that dark tunnel."

" _Always be skeptical, but do not scare yourself unnecessarily,_ " Curse advised. " _I have looked, and there appears to be no immediate threat within sight._ "

"Okay," She breathed. "Next step: Take inventory." She had her water bottle, and more water in that trench if she could reach it. She had her knife. Her backpack was full of colorful string (whee), her laptop, the bronze map, some matches, and some ambrosia for emergencies. Uh, yeah. This might qualify as an emergency. She dug the godly food out of her pack and wolfed it down. As usual, it tasted like comforting memories. This time it was buttered popcorn - move night with her dad at his place in San Francisco, no stepmom, no stepbrothers, just Annabeth and her father curled up on the sofa and watch sappy old romantic comedies. The ambrosia warmed her whole body, and the pain in her leg became a dull throb, but she knew even ambrosia couldn't heal broken bones right away. It might speed up the process, but best-case scenario, she wouldn't be able to put any weight on her foot for a day or more.

"My knife," She requested. "Can you get it for me?" Curse floated over to it, grabbed it, and passed it to Annabeth. She felt better holding it - not just for light and protection, but also because it was familiar. What next? Grover's survival class had mentioned something about staying put and waiting for rescue, but that wasn't going to happen. Even if Percy or the others somehow managed to trace her steps, the cavern of Mithras had collapsed. She could try contacting someone with Daedalus's laptop, but she doubted she could get a signal down here. Besides, who would she call? She couldn't text anyone who was close enough to help. Demigods never carried cell phones, because their signals attracted too much monstrous attention, and none of her friends would be sitting around checking their e-mail. She had water for an Iris-message, but she doubted she had the proper lighting for a rainbow, and her only coin was her silver Athenian drachma, which didn't make a great tribute.

At best, Veon might be able to shadow travel down here if he knew where he was going, but this was still Annabeth's quest, and he was off searching for his brother right now. If Annabeth did get rescued, she'd be admitting defeat. Something told her that the Mark of Athena would no longer guide her. She could wander down here forever, and she'd never find the Athena Parthenos. So no good staying put for help, which meant she had to find a way to keep going on her own. Or, at least, with Curse. She didn't seem to be much of a fighter, but she did seem to be able to point out where the next Mark of Athena would be, and was out to help Annabeth, not harm. She could still pick up and touch things despite being a ghost, and she could properly communicate.

Annabeth opened her water bottle and drank. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was. When the bottle was empty, Curse went to the gutter to refill it. The water was cold and moving swiftly - good signs that it might be safe to drink. She filled the bottle, and Annabeth crawled her way over to the gutter, cupping some water in her hands and splashing her face. Immediately, she felt more alert. With Curse's help, she washed off and cleaned her scrapes as best she could. Annabeth sat up and glared at her ankle.

"You  _had_  to break," She scolded it. The ankle did not reply. She'd have to immobilize it in some sort of cast. That was the only way she'd be able to move. Annabeth inspected the room again. Now that she was closer to the open doorway, she liked it even less. It led into a dark silent corridor, the air wafting out that smelled sickly sweet and somehow evil. Unfortunately, Annabeth didn't see any other way she could go.

Curse wasn't solid enough to lift something as heavy as Annabeth, and despite her protests, Annabeth crawled over to the wreckage of the stairs with a lot of gasping and blinking back tears. Curse looked around as fast as she could to avoid Annabeth making her ankle worse or hurting herself so much, finding two planks that were in fairly good shape and long enough for a splint. She passed them to Annabeth before going over to the wicker boxes and putting her hands to the leather straps. The straps glowed green in the place she touched them before she pulled and they snapped off with ease. Annabeth scooted over slowly to avoid Curse's scolding, and as she psyched herself up to immobilize her ankle, she noticed some faded words on one of the wooden crates:  **HERMES EXPRESS**.

"Hey, Curse, look!" She scooted excitedly toward the box. She had no idea what it was going here, but Hermes delivered all sorts of useful stuff to gods, spirits, and even demigods. Maybe he'd dropped this care package here years ago to help demigods like her with this quest. The two of them pried it open and pulled out several sheets of Bubble Wrap, but whatever had been inside was gone.

"Hermes!" She protested. Curse looked to the Bubble Wrap thoughtfully. Annabeth looked to it as well, and then her mind kicked into gear and she realized the wrapping  _was_  a gift. "Oh…that's perfect!" Annabeth and Curse worked together to cover her broken ankle in a Bubble Wrap cast. Annabeth held the lumber splints in place while Curse tied everything together with the leather straps. Once before, in first aid practice, Annabeth had splinted a fake broken leg for another camper, but she never imagined she'd have to make a splint for herself. It was hard, painful work, but finally it was done. She searched the wreckage of the stairs until she found part of the railing - a narrow board about four feet long that could serve as a crutch. She put her back against the wall, got her good leg ready, and hauled herself up.

"Whoa…" She muttered, and Curse helped steady her as black spots danced in her eyes. "Next time, just let me fight a monster. Much easier." Curse pointed.

" _The path continues._ " Above the open doorway, the Mark of Athena blazed to life against the arch. The fiery owl seemed to be watching her expectantly, as if to say, " _About time. Oh, you want monsters? Right this way!_ " Annabeth wondered if that burning mark was based on a real sacred owl. If so, when she survived, she was going to find that owl and punch it in the face. If that wasn't encouragement to survive this ordeal, then nothing was. The thought lifted her spirits, and with Curse by her side, she made it across the trench and hobbled slowly into the corridor.

The tunnel ran straight and smooth, but after her fall, Annabeth decided to take no chances. She used the wall for support and tapped the floor in front of her with her crutch to make sure there were no traps. As she walked, the sickly sweet smell got stronger and set her nerves on edge. The sound of running water faded behind her. In its place came a dry chorus of whispers like a million tiny voices. They seemed to be coming from inside the walls, and they were getting louder. Annabeth considered talking to Curse, but she figured that she'd rather not alert her enemies of her when she didn't know where they were. Curse wasn't in as much danger as she was, but she was gracious enough to catch on and be silent as well.

Annabeth tried to speed up, but she couldn't go much faster without losing her balance or jarring her broken ankle. She hobbled onward, convinced that something was following her. The small voices were massing together, getting closer. She touched the wall, and her hand came back covered in cobwebs. She yelped, then cursed herself for making a sound. She tried to calm herself, but that didn't stop the roaring in her ears.

She expected spiders. She knew who the weaver was, she knew what to expect up ahead, and the webs made her realize how close she was. Her hand trembled as she wiped it on the stones, nearly panicking at the realization that she shouldn't have come here alone. She shook herself out of those thoughts. There was nothing she could do about it now, and she did have Curse with her. She made her way down the corridor one painful step at a time. The whispering sounds got louder behind her until they sounded like millions of dried leaves swirling in the wind. The cobwebs became thicker, filling the tunnel. Soon, both she and Curse were pushing them out of their path, ripping through the gauzy curtains that covered her like Silly String.

Annabeth's heart was pounding like it wanted to break out of her chest and run. She stumbled ahead more recklessly, trying to ignore the pain in her ankle. Finally the corridor ended in a doorway filled waist-high with old lumber. It looked as if someone had tried to barricade the opening, which didn't bode well. Annabeth used her crutch to push away the boards as best she could, with Curse moving to help her with the rest. She crawled over the remaining pile, getting a few dozen splinters in her free hand.

On the other side of the barricade was a chamber the size of a basketball court. The floor was done in Roman mosaics, the remains of tapestries hung from the walls, and two unlit torches sat in wall sconces on either side of the doorway, both covered in cobwebs. At the far end of the room, the Mark of Athena burned over another doorway. Unfortunately, between Annabeth and that exit, the floor was bisected by a chasm fifty feet across. Spanning the pit were two parallel wooden beams, too far apart for both feet, but each too narrow to walk on unless Annabeth was an acrobat (which she wasn't) and didn't have a broken ankle (which she did).

The corridor she'd come from was filled with hissing noises. Cobwebs trembled and danced as the first of the spiders appeared: no larger than gumdrops, but plump and black, skittering over the walls and the floor. Annabeth didn't know what kind of spiders they were, but she did know that they were coming for her, and she only had a few seconds to figure out a plan. Annabeth wished Leo were here with his fire, or Jason with his lightning, or Hazel to collapse the tunnel. Most of all, she wanted Percy. She always felt braver when Percy was with her.

Curse hurried over to one of the wall sconces and grabbed a torch, putting her finger to it as it light with a green flame. She passed it to Annabeth before hurrying to the other and setting it ablaze as well. The first spiders were almost to the door. Behind them came the bulk of the army - a black sea of creepy-crawlies. Curse aimed her torch at the doorway before a blast of fire shot out like a green flame-thrower. Turns out, this fire wasn't just a mist like what she was made of, it was actual fire - maybe Greek fire at that. The old dry wood caught immediately, flames leaping to the cobwebs and roaring down the corridor in a flash fire, roasting spiders by the thousands. Yet Curse began to flicker, her form shrinking and becoming more transparent. She wouldn't be able to hold them indefinitely.

" _String!_ " She shouted. " _You must weave!_ " Annabeth stepped to the edge of the chasm. She shined her light into the pit, but she couldn't see the bottom. Jumping would be suicide. She could try to cross one of the bars hand over hand, but she didn't trust her arm strength, and she didn't see how she would be able to haul herself up with a full backpack and a broken ankle once she reached the other side.

String, curse had said. You must weave. She crouched and studied the beams. Each had a set of iron eye hooks along the inside, set at one-foot intervals. Maybe the rails had been the sides of a bridge and the middle planks had been removed or destroyed. But eye hooks? Those weren't for supporting planks. More like… _You must weave_. Of course! She glanced at the walls. The same kind of hooks had been used to hang the shredded tapestries. She realized the planks weren't meant as a bridge. They were some kind of loom.

Annabeth threw her flaming green torch to the other side of the chasm. She had no faith her plan would work, but she pulled all the string out of her backpack and began weaving between the beams, stringing a cat's cradle pattern back and forth from eye hook to eye hook, doubling and tripling the line. Her hands moved with blazing speed. She stopped thinking about the task and just did it, looping and tying off lines, slowly extending her woven net over the pit. She forgot the pain in her leg and Curse's fiery blaze as it guttered out behind her. She inched over the chasm, and the weaving held her weight. Before she knew it, she was halfway across.

She realized that her mother's skill with useful crafts was doing this. She hadn't thought that weaving seemed particularly useful to her - at least until now. She glanced behind her to see the barricade of fire that Curse had left behind was dying. Curse herself was nowhere to be seen, the torch she had been holding completely burnt away. A few spiders crawled in around the edges of the doorway. Desperately, she continued weaving, and finally she made it across. She snatched up the torch and thrust it into her woven bridge. Flames raced along the string, and even the beams caught fire as if they'd been pre-soaked in oil. For a moment, Curse's flames burned in a clear pattern - a fiery row of identical owls. Had Annabeth really woven them into the string, or was it some kind of magic Curse - or possibly Athena - had conjured? She didn't know, but as the spiders began to cross, the beams crumbled and collapsed into the pit.

Annabeth held her breath. She didn't see any reason why the spiders couldn't reach her by climbing the walls or the ceiling. If they started to do that, she'd have to run for it, and she was pretty sure she couldn't move fast enough. For some reason, the spiders didn't follow. They massed at the edge of the pit - a seething black carpet of creepiness. Then they dispersed, flooding back into the burned corridor, almost as if Annabeth was no longer interesting.

" _You have passed the test,_ " A small voice said. As Annabeth's torch sputtered out, she saw the small green figure that was Curse. She was barely an inch tall and just a little flame, no longer in the form of a person, most likely drained from burning the spiders and setting that fire like she had. " _You are close. The Mark of Athena is here._ " Annabeth realized that she had left her makeshift crutch on the other side of the chasm. She felt exhausted and out of tricks, but her mind was clear. Her panic seemed to have burned up along with that woven bridge.

She made her way down the next corridor, hopping to keep the weight off her bad foot with little Curse floating by her side. She didn't have far to go. After twenty feet, the tunnel opened into a cavern as large as a cathedral, so majestic that Annabeth had trouble processing everything she saw. This had to be the room from Percy's dream, but it wasn't dark. Bronze braziers of magical light, like the gods used on Mount Olympus, glowed around the circumference of the room, interspersed with gorgeous tapestries. The stone floor was webbed with fissures like a sheet of ice, and the ceiling was so high, it was lost in the gloom and layers upon layers of spider webs.

Strands of silk as thick as pillars ran from the ceiling all over the room, anchoring the walls and the floor like the cables of a suspension bridge. Web also surrounded the centerpiece of the shrine, which was so intimidating that Annabeth had trouble raising her eyes to look at it. Looming over her was a forty-foot-tall statue of Athena, with luminous ivory skin and a dress of gold. In her outstretched hand, Athena held a statue of Nike, the winged victory goddess - a statue that looked tiny from here, but was probably as tall as the real person. Athena's other hand rested on a shield as big as a billboard, with a sculpted snake peeking out from behind, as if Athena was protecting it.

The goddess's face was serene and kindly…and it  _looked_  like Athena. Annabeth had seen many statues that didn't resemble her mom at all, but this giant version, made thousands of years ago, made her think that the artist must have met Athena in person. He had captured her perfectly.

"Athena Parthenos," Annabeth murmured. "It's really here." All her life, she had wanted to visit the Parthenon. Now she was seeing the main attraction that  _used_  to be there - and she was the first child of Athena to do so in millennia. Strands of web covered it like a gauze pavilion. Annabeth suspected that without those webs, the statue would have fallen through the weakened floor long ago. As she stepped into the room, she could see that the cracks below were so wide, she could have lost her foot in them.

" _Giants' bane stands gold and pale_ ," Curse's whisper of a voice recited, her little flame hovering next to Annabeth's shoulder. " _Won through pain from a woven jail. You have found the Athena Parthenos, but now you must fight the guardian that has watched over it for eons._ " A chill washed over her. Where was the guardian? How could Annabeth free the statue without collapsing the floor? She couldn't very well shove the Athena Parthenos down the corridor that she'd come from.

" _Help shall arrive to gather the statue later,_ " Curse assured her. " _For now, do not focus on means of transporting the statue. You must concentrate on the main concern._ " She scanned the chamber, hoping to see something that might help. Her eyes wandered over the tapestries, which were heart-wrenchingly beautiful. One showed a pastoral scene so three-dimensional, it could've been a window. Another showed the gods battling the giants. There was one with the landscape of the Underworld, one with a group of maybe a dozen children all with their backs to the viewer, their hair all cut short so that some black marks could be seen on the backs of their necks, one showing the skyline of modern Rome, one of a two figures, one pure white and another pure black, though definitely humanoid, facing each other as though they were getting married or something. It was hard to tell their genders, impossible, really.

Annabeth caught her breath at the sight of one in particular. It was a portrait of two demigods kissing underwater: Annabeth and Percy, the day their friends had thrown them into the canoe lake at camp. It was so lifelike that she wondered if the weaver had been there, lurking in the lake with a waterproof camera.

"How is that possible?" Annabeth murmured.

"For ages I have known that you would come, my sweet," A voice said from the gloom above. Annabeth shuddered, feeling like a seven year old girl again, hiding under her covers, waiting for the spiders to attack her in the night. The voice sounded just as Percy had described: an angry buzz in multiple tones, female, but not human. In the webs above the statue, something moved - something dark and large.

"I have seen you in my dreams," The voice said, sickly sweet and evil, like the smell in the corridors. "I had to make sure you were worthy, the  _only_  child of Athena clever enough to pass my test and reach this place alive. Indeed, you are her most talented child. This will make your death so much more painful to my old enemy when you  _fail utterly_." The pain in Annabeth's ankle was nothing compared to the icy acid now filling her veins. She wanted to run. She wanted to plead for mercy.

" _You cannot show weakness,_ " Curse whispered into her ear. " _Not now. The weaver wishes you to be afraid. This is the final challenge for the Athena Parthenos. Succeed here, Annabeth Chase, and the war between the Romans and Greeks can be stopped and the earth goddess can be defeated._ "

"You're Arachne," She called out. "The weaver who was turned into a spider." The figure descended, becoming clearer and more horrible.

"Cursed by your mother," She said. "Scorned by all and made into a hideous thing…because  _I_  was the better weaver."

"But you lost the contest," Annabeth said.

"That's the story written by the winner!" Arachne cried. "Look on my work! See for yourself!" Annabeth didn't have to. The tapestries were the best she'd ever seen - better than the witch Circe's work, and yes, even better than some weavings she'd seen on Mount Olympus. She wondered if her mother truly  _had_  lost - if she'd hidden Arachne away and rewritten the truth. But right now, it didn't matter.

"You've been guarding this statue since the ancient times," Annabeth guessed. "But it doesn't belong here. I'm taking it back."

"Ha," Arachne said. Even Annabeth had to admit her threat sounded ridiculous. How could one girl in a Bubble Wrap ankle cast remove this huge statue from its underground chamber? Even Curse was now unable to assist her, all of her energy depleted. "I'm afraid you would have to defeat me first, my sweet," Arachne said. "And alas, that is impossible." The creature appeared from the curtains of webbing, and Annabeth realized that her quest was hopeless. She was about to die.

Arachne had the body of a giant black widow, with a hairy red hourglass mark on the underside of her abdomen and a pair of oozing spinnerets. Her eight spindly legs were lined with curved barbs as big as Annabeth's dagger. If the spider came any closer, her sweet stench alone would have been enough to make Annabeth faint. But the most horrible part was her misshapen face. She might once have been a beautiful woman. Now, black mandibles protruded from her mouth like tusks, her other teeth had grown into thin white needles, fine dark whiskers dotted her cheeks, and her eyes were large, lidless, and pure black, with two smaller eyes sticking out of her temples. The creature made a violent  _rip-rip-rip_  sound that might have been laughter.

"Now I will feast on you, my sweat," Arachne said. "But do not fear. I will make a beautiful tapestry depicting your death."


	32. Tombs, Tunnels, and Tourists

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much fluff. I thought about splitting this up into two chapters, but I was too lazy and was just like "Naaaaahhhhh~!"
> 
> Enjoy! Review! All that stuff!

First Person: Emily

I fiddled with my Hearth of Hestia necklace while we walked through the city. I've felt so helpless this entire quest. I couldn't protect Jason back in New Rome and he got clobbered with a brick. I've basically done nothing on any of the excursions that I've been a part of, merely running from Narcissus, and at best, talking Eidolons to go away, and even that I wasn't able to do without Zy's singing and Piper's more potent charm speak. At Charleston, the others handled most of the work, and Annabeth could've handled the locating of the map without me. Sure, I talked to Reyna, but I had a feeling that Annabeth would've still been able to talk Reyna into retreating even had I not been there. I was useless during the Shrimpzilla fight, and when our friends were dragged under the sea, all I could do was stand around and hope things would be all right. Chrysaor? All I did was add to the acting. The others could've managed fine without me there.

I've helped with figuring out, getting the others to spill their secrets to me so that I could put the pieces together, but most of the time, I wasn't able to tell anyone my results, and eventually the others found out anyway. Not to sound jealous, but Piper's charm speak is so much more powerful compared to mine, and now she's also got a cornucopia that can spew a houseful of food to go along with it. Zy got her own bow and new magic powers to use. Audrey got a new sonar power, and Veon's now got an army of Kako and power over tar.

So far, the most the Dove of Aphrodite has done is blend in with my outfit perfectly, like magic. It doesn't change colors or anything, but somehow the silver pin seemed to go with anything. Sometimes, when I'm in front of my hearth back on the Argo II, I think my Hearth of Hestia warms up, but it might just be my imagination. I mean, I  _am_  sitting in front of a fireplace. Other than that, nothing really happens.

I'm beginning to get the feeling that my usefulness on Zy's team…

No, I couldn't think like that. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and it's my job to keep troop morale up. If a battle seems hopeless, it's my job to make sure that we all stay positive and we don't give up. The will to go on is the most important part of this quest. Despite the odds and all the challenges, we need to keep going, but with so many obstacles, troop morale is bound to fall. Maybe I'm not an offensive player in this game, but I hold one of the most important jobs there is to any fight.

Hazel, Leo, Frank and I were off to try and find Nico in Rome, and it seemed to be a situation where I was needed. Hazel continued to lead us around the city, getting dizzy and doubling back.

"Sorry," She said. "It's just…there's so much underground here, so many layers, it's overwhelming. Like standing in the middle of an orchestra and trying to concentrate on a single instrument. I'm going deaf."

"Don't strain yourself Hazel, and don't feel bad," I said. "This was never meant to be an easy task. As long as you stay determined, we can find your brother. I have to admit, I can feel so many emotions from so many people all around us at once, so I can understand how you feel. It's so noisy, and it's giving me a bit of a headache. But we can do this, right? For Nico's sake." Hazel nodded, her face turning determined as we continued our tour of Rome.

Frank seemed happy to walk around, but Leo was clearly getting impatient. I could feel all his discomfort, his feet being sore, the day being sunny and hot, and the streets being choked with tourists. And it wasn't only him. I could feel a lot of discomfort - mainly from the heat, the crowds, and aching feet - all around us, so it was hard to say whether Leo had any other concerns on his mind, as those three things were overpowering in the city.

The forum was okay, but it was mostly ruins overgrown with bushes and trees. It took a lot of imagination to see it as the bustling center of Ancient Rome. The only reason I could get a proper image was because I'd seen  _New_  Rome, back in California. We passed big churches, freestanding arches, clothing stores, and fast-food restaurants. Once statue of some ancient Roman dude seemed to be pointing to a nearby McDonald's. On the wider streets, the car traffic was absolutely nuts, but we spent most of our time weaving through small alleys, coming across fountains and little cafés where we were not allowed to rest.

"I never thought I'd get to see Rome," Hazel said. "When I was alive, I mean the first time, Mussolini was in charge. We were at war."

"Mussolini?" Leo asked, frowning. "Wasn't he, like, BFFs with Hitler?" Hazel stared at him like he was an alien.

"BFFs?" She repeated.

"Nevermind."

"I'd love to see the Trevi Fountain."

"There's a fountain on every block," Leo grumbled.

"Or the Spanish Steps."

"Why would you come to Italy to see Spanish steps? That's like going to China for Mexican food, isn't it?" I laughed while Hazel frowned.

"You're hopeless," She complained.

"So I've been told." She turned to Frank and grabbed his hand, as if Leo had ceased to exist.

"Come on. I think we should go this way." Frank gave Leo a confused smile - like he couldn't decide whether to gloat or to thank Leo for being a doofus - but he cheerfully let Hazel drag him along. I took Leo's hand (platonically, of course) and hurried behind Frank and Hazel before he could complain and his mood could drop any further. After another long time of walking, Hazel stopped in front of a church. At least, it  _looked_ like a church, what with the main section having a big domed roof. The entrance had a triangular roof, typical Roman columns, and an inscription across the top:  **M. AGRIPPA**  something or other.

"Latin for ' _Get a grip?_ '" Leo speculated.

"This is our best bet," Hazel said, sounding more certain than she had all day. "There should be a secret passage somewhere inside."

Tour groups milled around the steps, guides holding up colored placards with different numbers and lecturing in dozens of languages like they were playing some international bingo. It made me remember that I didn't have Veon's infinite language abilities. I wondered if all the tour guides would be speaking in English if he was listening to them all, or he actually had to concentrate on a language to be able to speak it, and until he did, everyone still sounded like gibberish. One thing was for sure: those three years he'd complained about Spanish class have now all been put to waste. I could hear him complaining now about how if only he'd waited a few more years to take Spanish, and he would've had no problem getting an A now. I smiled at the thought. It would be just like him, and Zy for that matter.

Zy was already bilingual - no, wait, trilingual? Quad-lingual, if her sort-of Russian counted? - to begin with, which was awesome enough. As for me, I could still speak French thanks to Aphrodite, and I could still read Ancient Greek. Not to mention that my Latin seemed to be getting better ever since I'd gone to Camp Jupiter and was made a centurion. Special circumstances centurion, but a centurion nonetheless. There seemed to be one guide that was speaking French, and another that was speaking Spanish. I had only made it to my second year in Spanish back at high school, and left for CHB before my third year had begun, and so the French option seemed the easiest to follow.

"This is the Parthenon," I reported from the guides that I could understand. "It was originally built by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to the gods."

"After it burned down, Emperor Hadrian rebuilt it, and it's been standing for two thousand years," Leo continued, listening to the Spanish tour guide. "It's one of the best-preserved Roman buildings in the world." Frank and Hazel stared in surprise.

"How did you guys know that?" Hazel asked.

"I'm naturally brilliant," Leo proclaimed.

"Centaur poop," Frank said. "He eavesdropped on a tour group." Leo grinned.

"Maybe. Come on. Let's go find that secret passage. I hope this place has air conditioning." Leo was disappointed to find that no, there wasn't AC. On the bright side, there were no lines, and no admission fee, so I just asked the crowds to part for us, and it worked well enough. Tourists did have a very crazy amount of emotions though, and weird ones at that. It was a bit challenging to override so many confusing and crazy emotions at once, but I managed. Besides, it was good practice. We were able to walk right in with ease.

The interior was impressive, considering it had been constructed two thousand years ago. The marble floor was patterned with squares and circles like Roman tic-tac-toe game; the main space was one huge chamber with a circular rotunda, sort of like a capitol building back in the States; lining the walls were different shrines and statues and tombs, plus more, but the real eye-catcher was the dome overhead. All the light in the building came from one circular opening right at the top. A beam of sunlight slanted into the rotunda and glowed on the floor, like Zeus was up there with a magnifying glass, trying to fry puny humans (Leo's suggestion, not mine).

I wasn't as good an architect as Annabeth, but I'd learned a few things, and could appreciate the engineering. The Romans had made the dome out of big stone panels, but they'd hollowed out each panel in a square-within-square pattern. Not only did it looked cool, but it also had to have made the dome lighter and easier to support. It was amazing how people in the past could make such amazing architecture.

I knew that if Annabeth were here, she'd spend the whole day talking about it. It made me think about her, wondering how she was doing on her Mark of Athena expedition. I was worried about her, but I knew that if anyone could follow that Mark, it would be Annabeth. She'd been through so much, and I knew that she'd be able to think outside the box, succeeding where other's have failed. It's basically our generation's job to fight the odds and do what others have said are impossible.

"This is amazing," Hazel said, stopping in the middle of the room and turning in a circle to admire the room. "In the old days, the children of Vulcan would come here in secret to consecrate demigod weapons. This is where Imperial gold was enchanted."

"Well, if Vulcan's kids hung out here, then Leo should feel right at home," I said. "Right? We're looking for some kind of entrance to a tunnel, right? It should like something that a mechanical person would make." Hazel nodded.

"I can sense it nearby - a tunnel that will lead us toward Nico - but I'm not exactly sure where it is." Frank grunted.

"If this building is two thousand years old, it makes sense there could be some kind of secret passage left over from the Roman days," He admitted. I knew that Leo would be useful in that aspect, as he'd always managed to figure out how machines worked just by touching them with his hands. Back when we were all new at the whole demigod thing, he still managed to do amazing things with any gadgets he got his hands on, including working with Festus before he'd crashed - and I had no doubt that he'd get Festus back up in running one day when he got the time. He'd once even reprogrammed the electronic billboards in Time Square to read:  **ALL DA LADIES LUV LEO** , though he claimed it was purely accidental.

So now, he tried to sense the workings of this ancient building. I, myself, tried to be helpful, searching around for anything that stuck out as mechanical. With Leo beside me, I sensed what he was sensing, and was able to search around with the same effectiveness as him. At the same time, both of us turned toward a red marble altar-looking thing with a statue of the Virgin Mary on the top.

"Over there," We both said. The two of us hurried over, both of us feeling confident that we'd found the right place. The shrine was shaped sort of like a fireplace, with an arched recess at the bottom, and the mantel was inscribed with a name, like a tomb.

"The passage is around here," Leo said. "This guy's final resting place is in the way. Raphael somebody?"

"Famous painter, I think," Hazel said.

"Emily, can you make sure no one's watching us?" Leo requested.

"Sure." I opened my senses to all the people around us. Most of the tour groups were focusing on the dome, but there was one group that made me uneasy. About fifty feet away, some overweight middle-aged guys with American accents were conversing loudly, complaining to each other about the heat. They looked like manatees stuffed into beach clothes - sandals, walking shorts, touristy T-shirts and floppy hats. Their legs were big, pasty, and covered in spider veins. The guys acted extremely bored, and I wondered why they were just hanging around in place for no reason. There was a weird vibe I was getting from them, but it just seemed like they were thinking about normal things, the heat, where they'd be going next, where they could get some food, etc.

While I kept anyone from noticing us, Leo slipped around the side of the tomb. He ran his hand down the back of a Roman column, all the way to the base. Right at the bottom, a series of lines had been etched into the marble - Roman numerals. I could feel the zone he got into as the gears began turning in his head - like when you got into a task that you enjoyed and seemed to forget about the rest of the world while you worked.

"Heh, not very elegant, but effective," Leo commented.

"What is?" Frank asked. I sensed a bit of annoyance at having to explain something. It wasn't just the Frank bit, either. It was just the fact that Leo had to break out of his comfort zone of thinking to explain things that he already knew himself.

"The combination for the lock," He said simply. He felt around the back of the column some more and discovered a square hole about the size of an electrical socket. "The lock face itself has been ripped out - probably vandalized sometime in the last few centuries - but I should be able to control the mechanism inside." He placed his hand on the marble floor, sensing the bronze gears under the surface of the stone. Regular bronze would have corroded and become unstable a long time ago, but these were Celestial bronze - the handiwork of a demigod. I sensed as he urged them to move with a little willpower, the Roman numerals guiding him. We'd discovered previously, that with a little of Zy's help, Leo could even pick locks from distances just by staring at them. He had been practicing on his own for some time, and now he could at least pick locks on his own if he was touching them.

The cylinders turned -  _click, click, click_. Then  _click, click_. On the floor next to the wall, one section of marble tile slid under another, revealing a dark square opening barely large enough to wiggle through. Leo might've been able to fit, and I was pretty small, so it wouldn't be too hard to get at least the two of us down there. Hazel didn't look like she'd have too much trouble, but Frank…

"Romans must've been small," Leo commented, looking to Frank appraisingly. "You'll need to change into something thinner to get through here."

"That's not nice!" Hazel chided.

"But it's the truth," I said, putting my hand on Hazel's shoulder to calm her. "Leo didn't mean any offense by it, but Frank is gonna have to transform into something if he wants to fit down the small opening. We should count our blessings that Frank has that option in the first place."

"Don't worry about it," Frank agreed. "We should go get the others before we explore. That's what we were told to do, right?"

"They're halfway across the city," Leo reminded him. "If this is where Nico is, then Veon should be closing in on our location anyway, and he can just teleport to the others to get them when he arrives. Besides, uh, I'm not sure I can close this hatch again. The gears are pretty old."

"Great," Frank mumbled. "How do we know it's safe down there?" Hazel knelt, putting her hand over the opening, as if checking the temperature. I felt as she sensed her way under the ground. Veon had been learning to do that as well, and so I was familiar with the ability.

"There's nothing alive…at least not for several hundred feet," Hazel reported.

"The tunnel slants down, then levels out and goes sound, more or less," I continued. "And there don't seem to be any traps, at least within what's in range."

"How did you-?" I shrugged.

"I can sense emotions, but I guess I can also sense when people are using their powers."

"So what?" Leo asked. "You can imitate other people's powers? That would be so broken!"

"I've never tried to  _imitate_  someone's power before. Like Frank's transforming, for example. I've only ever been able to connect with more subtle powers, like being able to sense certain things, based on the person's demigod powers. It works the same as you picking locks, I guess. It just seems to happen when you're either focusing hard enough or just letting your powers come to you."

"Glad you're not into robbing banks," Hazel commented.

"Oh…bank vaults," Leo murmured in interest. "Never thought about that."

"Forget I said anything," Hazel sighed. "Look, it's not three o'clock yet. We can at least do a little exploring, try to pinpoint Nico's location before we contact the others. You three stay here until I call for you. I want to check things out, make sure the tunnel is structurally sound. I'll be able to tell more once I'm underground." Frank scowled.

"We can't let you go by yourself. You could get hurt."

"Frank, I can take care of myself. Underground is my specialty. It's safest for all of us if I go first."

"She has a point," I said. "If Veon's anything to go by, Hazel's probably safest if she goes alone and checks out the scene. If something goes wrong, she's the safest underground."

"Unless Frank wants to turn into a mole," Leo suggested. "Or a prairie dog. Those things are awesome."

"Shut up," Frank mumbled.

"Or a badger." Frank jabbed a finger at Leo's face.

"Valdez, I swear-"

"Okay, let's all keep calm," I interrupted.

"I'll be back soon," Hazel said. "Give me ten minutes. If you don't hear from me by then…nevermind. I'll be fine. Emily, please try and keep them from killing each other while I'm down there."

"Aye-aye." She nodded and dropped down the hole. I made sure that tourists walked past us without interest, though the three American manatees were still hanging out in the middle of the room. One of them wore a T-shirt that said  **ROMA** , as if he'd forget what city he was in if he didn't wear it. Every once in a while, despite my attempts to make a kind of perception-filter and keep people from noticing us (like in Doctor Who) he would glance over at us like he found our presence distasteful. I tried going into his thoughts, but they were still swarming with regular old tourist thoughts, as though his brain and his body weren't connecting and going off to do their own things separately. His mind seemed normal, and he didn't even seem to be aware he was occasionally scowling towards us.

"She talked to me earlier," Frank said abruptly, breaking my thoughts. "Hazel told me you figured out about my lifeline." Leo stirred, and he seemed to have noticed the three American guys as well, forgetting Frank was even there.

"Your lifeline…oh, the burning stick. Right." I sensed Leo resisting the urge to set his hand ablaze and yelling " _Bwah, ha, ha!_ " but though Leo was a humorous guy, even he wasn't cruel like that. I had done some research on the person in the past that had his life tied to a stick of firewood like Frank. Apparently, he was a friend of Atalanta, and after a big hunt and such, he suggested that she would get the glory. His brothers protested, saying that a woman shouldn't best him, and so he basically killed them, not meaning to, but losing his temper because he knew Atalanta didn't deserve to be discredited just because she was a woman, or something along those lines. Outraged, his mother, who held his stick of firewood in her possession in a box or some such, took it and lit it, resulting in his death. Appalled by what she'd done, she hung herself afterward.

I'd read a book all about myths and legends in Greek mythology, and it was almost painful to read. The gods always went and made things extremely confusing, not to mention the time period when most of these events happened. Sometimes people felt bad about things, sometimes people went mad and then regretted what they'd done even if it was a god's fault, this god went to Zeus and asked for something, but then this other god went to Zeus and asked for something, and then this god wanted one thing, but this other god wanted another thing, and then suddenly the first god is now on the other side of the argument, and then this god can't refuse this god, or this god made a promise to this guy, or this goddess made these goddesses fight so they made this guy choose something and then he caused the Trojan war…honestly, it was just insane. And that was mostly just the gods' participation. There were also things about this guy going off to fight this thing, or this human girl running from this person, or pining after this guy, and this person being given for a sacrifice, and this guy being overthrown as a king, and this guy being nice but also really bad at judging things, rinse and repeat.

I did read a bit about Ephialtes and Otis, or at least how the two died. Long story short, one of the brothers decided to go after Artemis, and so she led them to this forested place and then got them to follow after this animal. They split up to try and catch it, and when they finally caught it, they both threw their spears, unaware that their brother was hidden in the trees just beyond, and they ended up killing each other. "Such was Artemis's revenge," or something like that. At least, that's what the history book I read stated. Maybe the true story was different, as real life has taught me, since things were rarely ever as humans guessed.

"Look man, it's cool," Leo said. "I'd never do anything to put you in danger. We're on the same team." Frank fiddled with his centurion badge. Audrey, Veon and I still had our badges, but Veon kept his on his toga, and Audrey and I had ours in our bags. Technically, we  _were_  special-case centurions, and besides, it might not be a good idea to boast about it, since we were outlaws and all.

"I always knew fire could kill me, but since my grandmother's mansion burned down in Vancouver…it seems a lot more  _real_." Leo and I nodded. How could you not sympathize? In this demigod life, more often than not, everyone had a story. Someone could make a story book detailing every one of our histories, our pasts that twist and turn so often, filled with so much pain yet also strength and determination to keep going.

"Your grandmother…did she die in that fire?" Leo asked. "You didn't say."

"I…I don't know. She was sick, and pretty old. She said she would die in her own time, in her own way. But I think she made it out of the fire. I saw this bird flying up from the flames."

"So your whole family has the shape-changing thing?"

"I guess. My mom did. Grandmother thought that's what got her killed in Afghanistan, in the war. Mom tried to help some of her buddies, and…I don't know exactly what happened. There was a firebomb." Leo winced in sympathy.

"So we both lost our moms to fire." Though Leo hadn't planned it, he told Frank the whole story of the night at the workshop when Gaea had appeared to him, and his mother had died. The worst part about Leo's story wasn't even the fire, but the fact that it might have been  _Leo's_  fire that set the workshop ablaze. We all knew that it was Gaea who killed his mother, but despite all our efforts, there was a lingering doubt and fear in the back of Leo's mind that he had killed his mother with his fire.

"I never like it when people tell me, ' _Sorry about your mom_ ,'" Frank said, his eyes watering.

"It never feels genuine," Leo agreed.

"But I'm sorry about your mom."

"Thanks."

"There's no way to properly say, "I'm sorry," about someone, is there?" I asked. "But we're demigods, right? We're all family. You wanna know what I think? Saying sorry doesn't do a lot. It's just a couple words. It's the meaning behind them that matters the most, and I can say that we all sympathize with you both. We can't bring back the dead, and we can't change the past, but what we can do is keep moving forward. Death isn't fair. Isn't that what Thanatos told us? And it isn't. It probably never will be. We can either get angry at the world and reality, or we can power through it. Those are our only options, as sad as it sounds, but as long as we don't forget the past, we can move forward without fear."

There was still no sign of Hazel, and I noticed that the American tourists were still milling around the Pantheon. They seemed to be circling closer, like they were trying to sneak up on Raphael's tomb without it noticing. I tried to sense their thoughts, and now they did seem to feel a lot more distorted. It almost felt like their thoughts were becoming a second conscience within them…

"Back at Camp Jupiter, our cabin Lar, Reticulus, told me I have more power than most demigods, being a son of Mars, plus having the shape-changing ability from my mom's side. He said that's why my life is tied to a burning stick. It's such a huge weakness that it kind of balances things out."

"Like the Achilles curse," I suggested. "In return for being basically invincible, given amazing fighting prowess with the ability to fight the gods, there has to be one small spot on them that, if even pierced just slightly, will kill them. All of their weakness is squeezed into a small space. Sometimes I wonder if Veon, Audrey, Zy or I have a weakness like that. Zy said we were the most powerful demigods she'd seen in ages, and I worry what cost comes because of it."

"We've all got weaknesses," Leo said. "Me, for instance. I'm tragically funny and good-looking." Frank snorted.

"At least your life doesn't depend on a piece of firewood."

"We've all got the curse of a demigod, Frank," I said. "Maybe we don't have a stick of wood, but none of us can live normal lives in return for having any of our god blood. But you know something? I'm going to make the most of what I have. None of us chose the way we were born, what weaknesses we have, but we can still choose how we live, and how we perceive our lives. Life's hard, but we'll live through it, and show it we can be happy, we can succeed." Leo seemed to be in deep thought, going into his inventor-mode and thinking about ways to solve Frank's problem. There was always a solution, after all. There was always something to be done, especially in Leo's case.

"I wonder…" He muttered.

"Uh, guys?" I realized that the three American tourists were coming our way; no more circling or sneaking. They were making a straight line for Raphael's tomb, staring straight towards us. And now, I finally sensed the second consciousness that had been hidden from me before. "Has it been ten minutes yet?" Frank followed my gaze. The American's faces were angry and confused, like they were sleepwalking through a very annoying nightmare.

" _Leo Valdez, Emily Hezesto,_ " Called the guy in the  **ROMA**  T-shirt. His voice had changed to be more hollow and metallic, speaking as though English was his second language. " _We meet again._ " All three tourists blinked, their eyes turning solid gold and their auras coming out completely.

"Eidolons!" Frank yelped. The manatees clenched their beefy fists. Though they didn't look that threatening, I knew that the eidolons would be dangerous in any bodies, especially since these spirits wouldn't care whether their hosts survived or not.

"Eidolons, stop!" I ordered, trying to take control of their wills. Without Zy's hymn to keep them docile, the three of them were all fighting back, but I managed to make them pause and hesitate. They had stronger wills than humans, more power behind their souls. If Piper were here, she might have a better time with her charm speak, but I could do this. I didn't need to rely on others to help me with everything. I was strong!

"Can you hold them?" Frank asked.

"Not indefinitely," I managed to say without breaking my concentration. Three wills all against you was like trying to play Sudoku, do AP calculus homework, singing the catchiest and most addictive song in existence, and writing a college essay in another language under a five minute time limit all at once. I had to juggle the three of their fighting souls all at the same time, and they were pretty strong. I guess they did say that Gaea had sent the three strongest eidolons of the bunch, after all.

"They can't fit down the hole," Leo said.

"Right," Frank agreed. "Underground is sounding really good." He transformed into a snake and slithered over the edge.

"Come on, Emily!" Leo said before jumping down after him. I turned from my battle of wills and hopped in behind Leo as the spirits began to wail above.

" _Hezesto! Valdez! Kill Valdez!_ " The moment I was through, the hatch above closed automatically, cutting off our pursuers. It also cut off all light, but my Hearth of Hestia glowed with an orange light where the fire would be in the hearth, bright as a real fire but also soft and comforting. I hoped that we didn't need to get out the same way that we came in, as Leo most likely would have troubles opening that hatch again, and the eidolons could just wait it out for us above. They pounded on the marble floor above us, but they didn't seem capable of getting through. Frank had returned to human form, wheezing from the strain of having to transform so quickly while he was panicked.

"What now?" Frank asked.

"You okay?" I walked over and put my hand on his shoulder. The moment I made contact, I felt a surge of energy pass through me into him and he gasped, standing straight and no longer breathing heavily.

"Whoa," Leo muttered. "Emily, have you always been able to do that?"

"What?"

"Well, first off, you're glowing." I looked at my hand and saw that he was right. The orange light was no longer just coming from my necklace, but from my entire body. All of my skin was glowing with a light orange glow, similar to when Leo lit himself on fire, just without the actual flames.

"And the healing, or energizing, or whatever you did to me," Frank added.

"I don't know," I said. "I've never done this before. At least, not without realizing it."

"Well, what are we supposed to do now?" In front of us stretched a stone tunnel with a low ceiling. Just as I'd predicted, it slanted down, then leveled out and went south.

"Well, it only goes in one direction."

"Let's find Hazel," Frank said. Neither of us argued, making our way down the corridor and me going first with the light and my invincibility in case something came from in front of us. Leo wasn't much of a fighter, yet he was also one of the most important, as this place obviously required mechanical expertise, so he came in second, with Frank at the back to cover him from both sides. We'd made the eidolons promise never to possess any of the Argo II's crew, but if there was someone or something they could possess up ahead, I had no doubt that they would try and ambush us.

After a hundred feet or so, we turned a corner and found Hazel. In the light of her golden cavalry sword, she was examining a door. She was so engrossed in her task, she didn't notice us until Leo walked up and said, "Hi." Hazel whirled, trying to swing her spatha. Fortunately for Leo's face, the blade was too long to wield in the corridor.

"What are you doing here?" Hazel demanded. Leo gulped.

"Sorry. We ran into some angry tourists." He explained what had happened, and she hissed in frustration.

"I hate eidolons. I thought you guys made them promise to stay away."

"We made them promise to stay off the ship and not possess any of  _us_ ," I clarified.

"But if they followed us, and used other bodies to attack us, then they're not technically breaking their vow…" Frank finished.

"Great," Leo muttered. "Eidolons who are also lawyers. Now I  _really_  want to kill them."

"Forget them for now," I said. "Let's focus on what we have in front of us. What's up with this door?"

"I can't get it open," Hazel reported. "It's giving me fits. Leo, can you try your skill with the lock?" Leo cracked his knuckles.

"Stand aside for the master, please." He examined the lock. Remembering what had happened with Hazel before, I connected to Leo and began to think his thoughts with his processing power. The door was interesting, much more complicated than the Roman numeral combination lock above. The entire door was coated in Imperial gold, a mechanical sphere about the size of a bowling ball was embedded in the center, the sphere constructed from five concentric rings, each inscribed with zodiac symbols - the bull, the scorpion, etc - and seemingly random numbers and letters.

"These letters are Greek," Leo said in surprise.

"Well, lots of Romans spoke Greek," Hazel said.

"I guess, but this workmanship…no offense to you Camp Jupiter types, but this is too complicated to be Roman." Frank snorted.

"Whereas you Greeks just  _love_  making things complicated."

"Greeks are unpredictable, thinking outside the box, while Romans have more planned out smarts and organized thoughts," I said. "Both unique in their own way, and both useful. This is definitely Greek though. The machinery is delicate, sophisticated."

"You know, it kinda reminds me of…" Leo began, staring at the sphere and trying to recall where he'd read or heard about a similar ancient machine. "It's a more advanced sort of lock," He decided. "You line up the symbols on the different rings in the right order, and that opens the door."

"But what's the right order?" Hazel asked.

"Good question. Greek spheres…astronomy…"

"Geometry," I added. Leo's face lit up.

"Oh, no way. Emily, you're a genius! I wonder…what's the value of pi?" Frank frowned.

"What kind of pi?"

"He means the number," Hazel guessed. "I learned that in math class once, but-"

"It's used to measure circles," Leo said. "This sphere, if it's made by the guy I'm thinking of…" Hazel and Frank both stared at him blankly.

"Nevermind," I said. "Pi is 3.14159265 blah, blah, blah. The number goes on forever, but the sphere only has five rings, so 3.1415 should be enough, if we're right."

"And if you're not?" Frank asked.

"Well, then, Leo fall down, go boom," Leo said. "Let's find out!" He turned the rings, starting on the outside and moving them in. He ignored the zodiac signs and letters, lining up the correct numbers so they made the value of pi. Nothing happened.

"Hm, pi would expand outwards since it's infinite, right?" I guessed, still using Leo's mind through my powers.

"Right," Leo mumbled. The two of us reversed the order of the numbers. Once Leo aligned the last ring, something inside the sphere clicked and the door swung open. Leo beamed at his friends.

"Ha! It worked! Emily, you are amazing! That, good people, is how we do things in Leo World! Come on in!"

"I hate Leo World," Frank muttered. Hazel and I laughed as we followed Leo in.

All around was enough cool stuff to keep Leo busy for years, and I didn't even need to tap into Leo's mind for that. The room was about the size of the forge back at Camp Half-Blood, with bronze-topped worktables along the walls, baskets full of ancient metalworking tools, dozens of bronze and gold spheres like steampunk basketballs sitting around in various stages of assembly, and loose gears and wiring littering the floor. Thick metal cables ran from each table toward the back of the room, where there was an enclosed loft like a theater's sound booth, stairs leading up to the booth on either side and all the cables seeming to run into it. Next to the stairs on the left, a row of cubbyholes was filled with leather cylinders - probably ancient scrolls.

I was still connected to Leo's mind, and so I was just as excited as he was to see all the goodies in this room. The two of us were about to head toward the tables when Leo glanced to his left and nearly jumped out of his shoes, consequently filling me with a burst of surprise and fear even though I hadn't looked to what he'd seen. Flanking the doorway were two armored manikins - like skeletal scarecrows made from bronze pipes, outfitted with full suits of Roman armor, shield and sword.

"Dude," Leo muttered, walking up to one. "These would be awesome if they worked." Frank edged away from the manikins.

"Those things are going to come alive and attack us, aren't they?" Leo laughed.

"Not a chance. They aren't complete." He tapped the nearest manikin's neck, where loose copper wires sprouted from underneath its breastplate. "Look, the head's wiring has been disconnected."

"And here," I said pointing. "At the elbow. The pulley system for this joint is out of alignment. And these circuits here are in no condition to function properly. If you were to try and fire this thing up, it'd most likely explode or just short-circuit within a few seconds, letting off some deadly sparks in the process. Even if it didn't instantly fall apart, it wouldn't be able to move without failing. Of course, if we just got some replacement parts, fixed and insulated these wires here, replaced these pulley systems and then this…" I rambled off a bunch of mechanical terms, not knowing what I was really saying as the worlds spilled out of my mouth. I got into a comfortable zone where my mind just flew off without me.

"I don't know how you are doing this, but I think I might be in love with you, Em." Ignoring the comment, I put my hand to my chin and tried to concentrate. There was something nagging at the back of my mind, something important, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It seemed like there was something dangerous that I should be remembering, but my mind was still swirling with Leo's thoughts, emotions, and personality, making it hard to concentrate.

"The Romans must've been trying to duplicate a Greek design," I said, trying to let my thoughts wander freely so that I could try and clear my head enough to remember what was so important.

"But they didn't have the skill," Leo continued. Hazel arched her eyebrows.

"The Romans weren't good enough at being  _complicated_ , I suppose."

"Or delicate," Frank added. "Or sophisticated."

"Now, now," I said. "Romans are obviously different than Greeks, and the Greeks have more creative minds, though more rash and impulsive thought processes as well. They don't like being as organized as you Romans are, but at the same time, that allows them diversity and innovation. Both have their advantages and their flaws, so no bias, all right? We're all perfectly imperfect." Leo jiggled the manikin's head, making it nod like it was agreeing with me.

"Still…an impressive try," He said. "I've heard legends that the Romans confiscated the writings of Archimedes, but-"

"Archimedes?" Hazel repeated, looking baffled. "Wasn't he an ancient mathematician or something?" Leo laughed.

"He was a lot more than that. He was only the most famous son of Hephaestus who ever lived." Frank scratched his ear.

"I've heard his name before, but how can you be sure this manikin is his design?"

"It has to be! Look, I've read all about Archimedes. He's a hero to Cabin Nine. The dude was Greek, right? He lived in one of the Greek colonies in southern Italy, back before Rome moved in a took over. Finally the Romans moved in and destroyed his city. The Roman general wanted to spare Archimedes, because he was so valuable - sort of like the Einstein of the ancient world - but some stupid Roman soldier killed him."

"There you go again," Hazel muttered. " _Stupid_  and  _Roman_  don't always go together, Leo."

"It was just a coincidence," I said. "If a Greek had killed Archimedes, they would've been stupid too. Anyone who would go and kill that guy would be idiotic. He was a genius, and if he'd been spared, I wonder what the Roman empire might have become because of his creations and knowledge. There was so much he could've done in the world had his time not been cut short. Leo doesn't mean to say that all Romans are stupid just because that one guy killed Archimedes. Heck, if you read a couple mythology books, you'll call tons of people from that time stupid by our current standards."

"Thank you," Leo said.

"How do you know all this anyway?" Frank demanded. "Is there a Spanish tour guide around here?"

"No, man. You can't be a demigod who's into building stuff and not know about Archimedes. The guy was  _seriously_  elite. He calculated the value of pi; he did all this math stuff we still use for engineering; he invented a hydraulic screw that could move water through pipes." Hazel scowled.

"A hydraulic screw. Excuse me for not knowing about  _that_  awesome achievement."

"Hey, a hydraulic screw that can move water through pipes can be useful," I said. "And considering that he lived in a time where technology was scarce, if not completely absent - and anything that was considered "technology" was nowhere  _near_  today's standards - he was amazing for coming up with what he did. Oh, and of course he also built that death ray made of mirrors that could burn enemy ships."

"I saw something about that on TV," Frank admitted. "They proved it didn't work."

"That's just because modern mortals don't know how to use Celestial bronze.  _That's_  the key. Archimedes also invented a massive claw that could swing on a crane and pluck enemy ships out of the water. That was one of my favorites."

"Definitely in love with you," Leo said.

"Okay, that's cool," Frank admitted. "I love the grabber-arm games. Even though they're totally rigged."

"Well, there you go," Leo said. "Anyway, all his inventions weren't enough. The Romans destroyed his city. Archimedes was killed. According to legends, the Roman general was a big fan of his work, so he raided Archimedes's workshop and carted a bunch of souvenirs back to Rome. They disappeared from history, except…" Leo waved his hands at the stuff on the tables. "Here they are."

"Metal basketballs?" Hazel asked.

"Archimedes constructed  _spheres,_ " I said, feeling Leo's irritation at their lack of appreciation for Archimedes's genius. "The Romans couldn't figure them out. They thought they were just for telling time or following constellations, because they were covered with pictures of stars and planets."

"But that's like finding a rifle and thinking it's a walking stick!" Leo stated.

"Leo, the Romans were top-notch engineers," Hazel reminded him. "They built aqueducts, roads-"

"Siege weapons," Frank added. "Public sanitation."

"Yeah, fine," Leo said. "But Archimedes was in a class by himself."

"He's right," I said. "Archimedes invented things that weren't likely to be mass-produced, and they were only for those at his level of thinking. His spheres could do all sorts of things, only nobody is sure…" Leo looked to me, seemingly having the same thought as me (considering I was still tapping into his thoughts) and he got so excited that his nose burst into flames. I laughed as he patted it out as quickly as possible before running to the row of cubbyholes with me and examining the markings on the scroll cases.

"Oh, gods. This is it!" He gingerly lifted out one of the scrolls. He wasn't great at Ancient Greek, but he could tell the inscription on the case read, ' _On Building Spheres_.' His hands were shaking in excitement and disbelief. "Guys, this is the lost book! Archimedes wrote this, describing his construction methods, but all the copies were lost in ancient times. If I can translate this…" The possibilities were endless. For Leo, the quest had now totally taken on a new dimension. We had to get the spheres and the scrolls to safety out of here. He had to protect this stuff until he could get it back to Bunker 9 and study it.

"The secrets of Archimedes," He mused. "Guys, this is bigger than Daedalus's laptop. If there's a Roman attack on Camp Half-Blood, these secrets could save the camp. They might even give us an edge over Gaea and the giants!" Hazel and Frank glanced at each other skeptically.

"Okay," Hazel said. "We didn't come here for a scroll, but I guess we can take it with us."

"Assuming that you don't mind sharing its secrets with us stupid uncomplicated Romans," Frank added.

"What?" Leo stared at him blankly. "No. Look, how many times must it be said that I didn't mean to insult…ah, nevermind. The point is this is good news!" For the first time in days, Leo felt really hopeful. Naturally, that's when everything went wrong. On the table next to Hazel and Frank, one of the orbs clicked and whirred. A row of spindly legs extended from its equator, the orb stood, and two bronze cables shot out of the top, hitting Hazel and Frank like taser wires before I could move an inch towards them. The two crumpled to the floor.

Leo and I lunged to help them, but the two armored manikins that couldn't possibly move,  _did_  move. They drew their swords and stepped towards Leo and I. The one on the left turned its crooked helmet, which was shaped like a wolf's head. Despite the fact that it had no face or mouth, a familiar hollow voice spoke from behind its visor.

" _You cannot escape us, Leo Valdez,_ " It said. " _We do not like possessing machines, but they are better than tourists. You will not leave here alive. And Emily Hezesto, you shall be delivered to the Earth Mother. She has wonderful plans for you and your friends._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone was wondering, Leo meant his comments towards Emily to be friendly and joking, as he finally has a person that understand his mechanical quirkiness. There will still be Caleo in this story, all you Calypso fans.


	33. Showdown with the Eidolons

First Person: Emily

Eidolons might be able to possess machines. That's what I had in the back of my mind. During my training with Zy, she had taught me to always assume the worst when it came to an enemy, meaning, I had to assume that the eidolons could possess anything, not just living people, but objects as well. For all I knew, they could possess a stuffed animal or a pencil. Whether that was true or not, I needed to assume the worst if I wanted to survive, but with Leo's thoughts and emotions overriding my own, my basic training and natural instincts had been shoved to the back of my mind where I couldn't reach them, and so I totally forgot about assuming the worst, and assuming that the eidolons could possess machines.

When I'd seen the manikins, I just  _knew_  there was something I should be worried about, and it was because the manikins would be perfect to ambush us with. Frank even guessed that they were going to jump out and attack us. Because Leo wasn't worried,  _I_  wasn't worried, and therefore, this happened. Had I not been imitating Leo, I might have kept my eye on all of the electronics in the room and been prepared to defend the others from the sneak attack that had taken Hazel and Frank by surprise and left us two people down - a female and a male, no less (just what Gaea needs for some odd reason) - and with no time to think of any plans.

Leo couldn't blast these guys with fire. Whether or not he did any damage by melting them or something, these were machines, and they'd still be able to move despite any damage Leo did, especially with an eidolon behind it. Leo had been practicing with his fire power, but though these machines were old, I had a feeling that they weren't going to melt easily. Besides, Hazel and Frank were too close. We didn't want to risk accidentally burning them, or accidentally hitting the pieces of firewood that controlled Frank's life.

To our right, the suit of armor with a lion's head helmet creaked its wiry neck and regarded Hazel and Frank, who were still lying unconscious.

" _A male and a female demigod,_ " Lion Head said. " _These will do, if the others die._ " Its hollow face mask turned back towards us, Leo in particular. " _We do not need you, Leo Valdez._ "

"Oh, hey!" Leo exclaimed, trying for a winning smile. "You always need Leo Valdez!" He spread his hands, hoping he looked confident and useful, not desperate and terrified. I felt him wondering if it was too late to write  **TEAM LEO**  on his shirt. Sadly, the suits of armor were not as easily swayed as the Narcissus fan club had been. The one with the wolf-headed helmet snarled.

" _I have been in your mind, Leo. I helped you start the war._ " Leo's smile crumbled, and he took a step back.

"That was you? You made me fire the ballista?!" Leo demanded. "You call that  _helping?!_ "

" _I know how you think,_ " Said Wolf Head. " _I know your limits. You are small and weak. You need friends to protect you. Without them, you unable to withstand me. I vowed not to possess you again, but I can still kill you._ "

"Yeah, well I know Leo too!" I said. "I know that he's plenty strong enough to handle himself. He's smart and intelligent, he has a strong will, he knows how to keep a situation bright even in the darkest times, and he sure as heck won't be killed by the likes of you!" The armored dudes stepped forward, their swords drawn. I felt Leo's fear suddenly making way for a whole lot of anger. This eidolon in the wolf helmet had shamed him, controlled him, and made him attack New Rome. It had endangered his friends and botched their quest. He glanced at the dormant spheres on the worktables, he considered his tool belt, and he thought about the loft behind us - the area that looked like a sound booth. Presto:  _Operation Junk Pile_  was born.

"First: you don't know me," He told Wolf Head. "And second: Bye." We lunged for the stairs and bounded for the top. The suits of armor were scary, but they were not fast. As suspected, the loft had doors on either side - folding metal gates. The operators would've wanted protection in case their creations went haywire…like now. I pushed Leo past and then shut the gates, forcing Leo to summon fire to his hands and fuse the locks before he had a moment to realize what he was doing.

"I'll buy you some time!"

"But Emily-!"

"I'm invincible, Leo! Just do what you have to and I'll keep them busy so they don't get their own chance to plot something!" Before he could protest further, I turned and drew my dagger before charging at the nearest closing manikin, the Lion Head. A battle of wills would only drain me unnecessarily, and though it would buy Leo time, it might not be enough, and I wouldn't be much use if something went wrong. So, though I wasn't as good a fighter as most of the crew of the Argo II, I swung my dagger and rammed my shoulder into Lion Head's chest, sending him stumbling back.

" _This is foolish,_ " Lion Head said. " _You only delay your capture and his death._ "

"Delaying death is one of my favorite hobbies," Leo responded. The Wolf Head made it to the gates while I was pushing back the Lion Head, and though he hacked at the bars with his sword, the gates held. I could sense Leo getting to work on something, and I knew that I just needed to buy him a few minutes while also keeping the eidolons from trying anything. Hazel and Frank were still out here, unconscious, and though a male and a female were needed for Gaea's thingy-ma-bobber or whatever, the eidolons could still use them to their advantage and kill them to draw Leo out. There were other members of the Argo II, after all, and tons of other demigods, for that matter.

" _Leo Valdez!_ " The spirit howled. " _Open this gate or I will kill you!_ "

"A fair and generous offer!" Leo called. "Just let me finish this. A last request, all right?" He must've confused the spirits, because Wolf Head momentarily stopped hacking at the bars.

I hurried over to Hazel and Frank, but the sphere that was possessed by the third eidolon of the trio sent out wires just like it had used on the pair of demigods before. When the wires made contact, I felt a jolt of electricity, twice as powerful as what had knocked out Hazel and Frank, as both of the wires were directed at me, while they had only taken one shock each. The electricity hit me like a train, but I managed to stay conscious, if with a major headache, and twist my body. I tried to grab the wires, but they retreated back into the sphere and out of reach.

My limbs felt like jelly, as though I'd just run for miles without stop, but I managed to shake myself of the access electricity and got to my friends. I didn't have a lot of time to help or examine them for injuries, as Lion Head came back for me. I shoved the two of them under a table - the most safety they were going to have in this situation - before turning and grabbing the sword that was aimed for me. I wondered if my eyes had the same protection that my skin did, because the sword was nearly plunged into my skull through my right eye had I not reacted in time. I really didn't want to have a test at the moment, and so I twisted the sword under my arm and tried to rip it from the manikin's grasp. Unfortunately, it had the unyielding grip of a robot, and where I might've dislocated, or just plain removed, the arm of the machine had it not been possessed by an eidolon holding it together…well, yeah.

I acted quickly, knowing that I couldn't hesitate if I was surprised by something, and elbowed the Lion Head in…well, where his face  _would_  be, anyway. I wasn't the most skilled fighter of the bunch, but I was still strong and knew how to use my dagger thanks to a little practice with Zy and Audrey respectively. So when I put as much force as I could into elbowing the machine, despite it not being able to feel any pain, is still recoiled back, as I let it's sword go so that I had both my hands. I moved to punch the machine while it was still off balance, and managed to knock it back further, yet still not off its feet.

If only I had Zy electricity powers, or Audrey's water for that matter. Both would be effective against machines. Heck, even Veon's Kako would come in handy. But I promised to buy Leo time, and I had Hazel and Frank to protect. They were all relying on me, and I could do this. I tapped into the emotions of the third eidolon, the one in the sphere, and then forced it to use its electric wires at Lion Head, succeeding as the wires shot past from behind me right at said manikin. Though the eidolon was able to cut off its attack after only a moment and the Lion Head wasn't majorly damaged, it did stagger both of them.

" _What are you doing?!_ " Lion Head demanded.

" _It was not me!_ " I moved to punch the Lion Head again, but I was still fatigued from the electric shock, using my will over the eidolon just now, and hitting this thing so many times. Even if my skin couldn't be pierced, I had a feeling I wasn't going to get out of this without a few bruises.

Meanwhile, Wolf Head started pounding on the gates again.

"Who is it?!" Leo called.

" _Valdez!_ "

"Valdez who?!" Leo was working frantically, knowing that three against one while protecting an unconscious Frank and Hazel wasn't going to be easy for me, and Wolf Head was going to come to his senses and realize breaking open the gate was useless any moment now. I could sense his stress from here, how worry causing him to slip up in connecting some gears and having to start again. The Taser ball of the third eidolon was still dangerously close to Hazel and Frank, meaning that at any moment it could give them both a powerful shock. The first shocks were specifically on stun, meant to knock them out, even when both of the wires had been trained on me, but I had no doubt that it was capable of killing them if it wanted to.

"Hey, Taser!" I called to the third eidolon, drawing his emotions so that I got his anger on me. Before he was even thinking about it, his wires shot out in my direction, but they missed and ended up aiming just slightly to my left as the wires shot out as far as they possibly could. Just what I needed. I grabbed the electric wires, bracing myself against the electricity before pulling as hard as I could with all my weight. Since the wires had been extended to their maximum length, there was no give for the Taser orb, and so it got ripped from its position and flung right into the Lion Head's chest. That sent them both back a good distance, yet I still had to consider if the eidolons could just jump from their current machines to another even once I wrecked them.

Leo had finally made his final calibrations and wound the starter coil of the sphere he had, and the gears began to turn. When he closed the top of the sphere and studied its concentric circles - similar to the ones on the workshop door, I realized that neither Leo nor I, using some of Leo's smarts, would be able to figure out the seemingly random access code for the sphere. Pi was a lucky guess for the door, and no way would the code be the same. Considering the spheres themselves were so much more important than access to this room, figuring out the access code on our own was going to be nearly impossible, especially considering we had little time, and these were made by freaking Archimedes.

" _Enough! Open these doors or we shall kill your friends!_ " Wolf Head declared. The Taser ball that contained the third eidolon suddenly went slack, shutting down and losing its power that the eidolon had given it. I felt the eidolon's consciousness transfer through the air, and followed it to another sphere, one that activated same as the previous one, but it was on the table above where I'd shoved Hazel and Frank. The Taser ball 2.0 lashed out with its tendrils and sent another shock through Hazel and Frank. Their unconscious bodies flinched, and I knew that just a certain amount of electricity could stop their hearts. Even if we got lucky and it hadn't killed them this time, there was still the chance that it could do it at any time it wanted.

The Lion Head came up behind me while I was looking to Frank and Hazel and hooked its arms under my shoulders, pulling with its ruthless mechanical strength. I wasn't sure if my invincibility would prevent it from dislocating my shoulder, but it certainly felt like both of my arms were pulled at a terrible angle, and the metal of the machine was jabbing into my skin with an immense amount of pressure. Though it didn't pierce my skin, I could still feel the pain from it gripping me hard enough to crush my bones, and a scream slipped out. I tried to focus on the eidolon and make it release me, but I was already depleted, and it was hard to feel any emotions over my own pain, let alone control anything.

" _Open this gate now or they die!_ " Wolf Head repeated. I could feel Leo's distress even through my pain. By just putting his hand on the sphere, he knew for sure that the sequence had been generated randomly. It was something only Archimedes could possibly know. Supposedly, Archimedes's last words had been, " _Don't disturb my circles_." No one knew what that meant, but Leo could apply it to this sphere. The lock was much too complicated. Maybe if Leo had a few years, he could decipher the markings and figure out the right combination, but he didn't even have a few seconds. He was out of time, out of luck, and all of us were going to die. Well, maybe not me, which might be even worse, since I'd have to live with the fact that I slipped up and ended up failing the three of them. Not to mention I'd be used for whatever Gaea wants me and the rest of Zy's team for.

" _A problem you cannot solve,_ " He remembered. Nemesis had told him to expect this moment. So Leo thrust his hand into his tool belt and brought out the fortune cookie. The goddess had warned him about the price paid for her assistance - losing an eye, for example - but in this situation, he'd rather lose an eye than his friends.

"I need the access code for this sphere," He said, before breaking open the cookie.

" _If friends do not matter to you, perhaps you need more incentive,_ " Wolf Head said. " _Perhaps I should destroy these scrolls instead - priceless works by Archimedes!_ " As the manikin walked over to some of the scrolls, I took advantage of my free legs and restrained upper body to pull myself up and kick him in the groin. Only problem? *Cough, cough,* unfeeling robot made of metal *Cough, cough.* I had never kicked a guy in the groin before - mostly because I could feel the waves of pain that came off of them whenever someone such as Clarisse got angry at someone such as the Stoll brothers, and because I was a very nice person - and there was a part of me glad that the person I kicked didn't feel it. At the very least, it got his attention for a moment while Leo put in the access code for the sphere. Lion Head tightened his grip on me further, and had I not been invincible, I'm pretty sure he would've severed my arms off by this point.

Then, I felt as Leo clicked the last ring into place, the room humming with energy from the sphere Leo had activated that had been hooked up to all the cords around the room. Magical and electrical pulses coursed via the Celestial bronze cables, and surged through the entire room. Leo wasn't an instrument kinda guy, but he was getting into the same kind of zone that happened when someone like Zy played her infinite guitar or lyre - you knew each key or note so well that you didn't really think about what your hands were doing. You just concentrated on the kind of sound you wanted to create. With Zy's instruments, all you had to do was know what the music sounded like and then play the instrument with no experience and it would come out just as you imagine, playing numerous instruments at once, sometimes. This was basically the Leo version of that power.

He started small, focusing on one reasonably intact gold sphere down in the main room. The gold sphere shuddered, growing a tripod of legs and then clattering over to the Taser ball. A tiny circular saw popped out of the gold sphere's head, and it began cutting into the Taser ball's brain. He tried activating another orb, but this one burst into a small mushroom cloud of bronze dust and smoke.

"Oops," He muttered. "Sorry Archimedes."

" _What are you doing?!_ " Wolf Head demanded. " _Stop your foolishness and surrender!_ "

"Oh yes, I surrender!" Leo called. "I'm totally surrendering!" He tried to take control of a third orb, but that one broke too. He felt bad about ruining all these ancient inventions, but this was life or death. Frank had accused him of caring more for machines than people, I sensed, but if it came down to saving old spheres or his friends, there was no choice. The fourth try went better. A ruby-encrusted orb popped its top and helicopter blades unfolded. Glad Buford the table wasn't here - he would've fallen in love. The ruby orb spun into the air and sail straight for the cubby holes. Thin golden arms extended from its middle and snapped up the precious scroll cases.

" _Enough!_ " Wolf Head yelled. " _I will destroy the-_ " He turned in time to see the ruby sphere take off with the scrolls. It zipped across the room and hovered in the far corner. " _What?! Kill the prisoners!_ "

I tried to build my power and concentrate on something else besides the pain. My job was to protect this team, and I'd never forgive myself if I let Hazel and Frank get killed while I was still here to say something about it. I gathered my energy as best I could, feeling energy build up in my chest. I might get one shot. Before I knew it, I was glowing brightly like I had before, as though I was on fire, just without the flames. It looked to be just a light, but the Lion Head manikin began to steam, it's metal melting as my skin's temperature rose. With one last tug, I pulled my arms free and stumbled forward, my upper body numb with pain but recovering quickly as the heat spread throughout my body.

I aimed my hands forward without even thinking about it and then suddenly fire began shooting forward from my palms, engulfing everything in front of me, including Hazel, Frank and eidolon 3. My inferno seemed to know what it was doing, however, and instead of harming Hazel and Frank, it actually seemed to protect them, the fire moving to wrap them in an aura of red and orange. I felt as the fire actually started  _healing_  them, stabilizing the amount of electricity that had been sent through them and causing them to stir. The fire engulfed the Taser ball in an aura as well, but instead of protecting it, it seemed to seep into the cracks and seams, causing it to start short circuiting along with burning the thing normally. Leo's gold sphere was also unaffected, and it continued to sit on top of the burning Taser ball's sawed-open head, picking through its gears and wires like it was scooping out a pumpkin.

" _Bah!_ " Wolf Head gestured to Lion Head. " _Come! We will destroy the demigods ourselves!_ "

"I don't think so," Leo said, turning towards the Lion Head. His hands worked the control sphere, and I felt a shock travel through the floor before Lion Head shuddered and lowered his sword. Leo grinned. "You're in Leo World now." Lion Head turned and marched up the stairs to face his comrade.

" _What are you doing?_ " Wolf Head demanded. " _We have to -_ "

_BLONG!_

Lion Head slammed his shield into Wolf Head's chest. He smashed the pommel of his sword into his comrade's helmet, so Wolf Head became Flat, Deformed, Not Very Happy Wolf Head.

" _Stop that!_ " Wolf Head demanded.

" _I cannot!_ " Lion Head wailed. Leo was getting the hang of it now. He commanded both suits of armor to drop their swords and shields and slap each other repeatedly.

" _Valdez!_ " Wolf Head's warbling voice called. " _You will die for this!_ "

"Yeah?!" Leo called out. "Who's possessing who now, Casper?!" The machine men tumbled down the stairs, and Leo forced them to jitterbug like 1920s flappers. I ran over to Taser ball and removed Leo's gold sphere before throwing the third eidolon towards the other two. Then, I lunged at the three of them, feeling my power surge and my entire body tingle. The next thing I knew, I  _was_  fire, raging and consuming as I flew into their circuits and destroyed them from the inside out. Their joints began smoking, the other spheres around the room began to pop. Too much energy was surging through the ancient system, and that was even without my contribution, since I controlled my flame and kept it inside of the three eidolons' mechanical bodies.

"Frank, Hazel! Take cover!" Leo called. I willed my fire to reform and then transform back into my body before I dived for Frank and Hazel. Frank twisted to shield Hazel with his body, while I shielded both of them, along with sending some of my protecting fire to put a barrier around Leo's ruby sphere and the scrolls it had. With one last twist of the sphere, Leo sent a massive jolt through the system. The armored warriors blew up; rods, pistons, and bronze shards flew everywhere; on all the tables, sphere popped like hot soda cans. Leo's gold sphere froze, and his flying ruby orb dropped to the floor with the scroll cases, still protected by my glowing aura.

The room was suddenly quiet except for a few random sparks and sizzles, along with the crackling of the auras of fire I'd made. The air smelled like burning car engines. I emerged from under the table and looked around to see the damage, along with the three destroyed eidolons.

"Ha, ha! You did it, Leo!" Leo came running down the stairs, finding that Hazel and Frank were still safe under the table. He had never been so happy to see these two hugging.

"You're alive!" He exclaimed in relief.

"Uh, what exactly happened?" Hazel asked.

"Archimedes came through!" Leo exclaimed happily. "Just enough power left in those old machines for one final show. Once I had the access code, it was easy." Leo patted the control sphere, which was steaming in a bad way. Leo didn't know if it could be fixed, but at the moment, he was too relieved to care.

"The eidolons," Frank said. "Are they gone?" Leo grinned.

"My last command overloaded their kill switches - basically locked down all their circuits and melted their cores, thanks in part to Emily and her magic."

"In English?" Frank requested.

"We trapped the eidolons inside the wiring, then melted them," I explained. "They won't be bothering anyone again." The two of us helped our friends to their feet.

"You saved us," Frank said to Leo.

"Don't sound so surprised," Leo muttered. "Besides, Emily did a lot of the work. What did you do, anyway? Have you always been able to do that fire thing?"

"What fire thing?" Frank asked, a hint of unease in his voice.

"She can blast fire out of her hands, and put non-harmful fire around people, like she did with you guys to protect you, and she can transform  _into_  fire."

"My fire also healed any of your injuries and helped with the excess electricity that had been running through your system. In short, the fire can both burn and destroy as I command it to, but it can also heal and protect. I promise, Frank, it won't hurt you or your firewood unless I deliberately command it to. And no, I've never had this happened before. It's still a bit confusing. And though I healed my arms from being held by Lion Head, I'm still pretty tired, you know? I kinda want a nap…like, right now." To prove my point, I yawned, coming down from my power high and suddenly feeling like I hadn't slept in days.

"Too bad all this stuff got wrecked," Leo said. "But at least I salvaged the scrolls. If I can get them back to Camp Half-Blood, maybe I can learn how to recreate Archimedes's inventions."

"I have confidence in you, Leo," I said, popping an energizing snack that Zy had given me into my mouth. It definitely made me feel more awake and energized. "If anyone can be as great an inventor as Archimedes, it's you." Hazel rubbed the side of her head.

"But I don't understand. Where is Nico? That tunnel was supposed to lead us to Nico."

"I don't sense his emotions, or anyone else in general, down here," I reported. Leo seemed to have forgotten that Nico was the whole reason we came down here in the first place. Nico obviously wasn't here, this place was a dead end, so why had Hazel assumed that Nico was here?

"Oh," Leo suddenly said, having wave of dread wash over him. "Hazel, how exactly were you tracking Nico? I mean, could you just sense him nearby because he was your brother?" She frowned.

"Not…not totally. Veon's the one with the actual soul-bond to Nico. Sometimes I can tell when he's close, but, like I said, Rome is so confusing, so much interference because of all the tunnels and caves-"

"You tracked him with your metal-finding senses," Leo guessed. "His sword?" She blinked.

"How did you know?"

"You'd better come here." He led us up to the control room and pointed to a black sword - Nico's Stygian iron sword.

"Oh. Oh, no…" Hazel would've collapsed if Frank hadn't caught her. "But that's not possible! Percy, Audrey, Veon…all of them saw Nico's sword with him in the bronze jar…!"

"Either his dream was wrong, or the giants moved the sword here as a decoy," Leo said.

"So this was a trap," Frank summed up. "We were lured here."

"But  _why?!_ " Hazel cried. "Where's my brother?!"

"Hazel?" I asked. "Hazel, stay calm, okay? Veon's out there looking for Nico too, remember? Even if we didn't find him, Veon has to be close by now, right? And he'll report the moment he finds any hint as to where Nico's being kept. We should head back to the ship and wait for him to report in, all right?" A hissing sound suddenly filled the control booth. At first, it sounded like the eidolons were back, but then I realized the bronze mirror on the table was steaming.

" _Ah, my poor demigods,_ " Gaea said, her voice echoing through the room. It seemed to be coming not just from the mirror, but from the stone walls as well. Of course. We go through all the trouble of building the Argo II so that we can sail by sea and air, and we'd ended up in the earth anyway. As usual, she spoke without moving her mouth, which could only have been creepier if she'd had a ventriloquism puppet. " _You had your choice. I offered salvation to all of you. You could have turned back. Now it is too late. You've come to the ancient lands where I am strongest - where I will wake._ "

"No way," I declared. Leo pulled a hammer from his tool belt and whacked the mirror. Being metal, it just quivered like a tea tray, but it felt good to smash Gaea in the nose.

"In case you haven't noticed, Dirt Face, your little ambush failed. Your three eidolons got melted in bronze, and we're fine." I knew that boasting was the wrong thing to do in Gaea's presence as she laughed softly.

" _Oh, my sweet Leo. You four have been separated from your friends. That was the whole point._ " The workshop door slammed shut. " _You are trapped in my embrace. Meanwhile, Annabeth Chase faces her death alone, terrified and crippled, at the hands of her mother's greatest enemy._ " The image in the mirror changed. We saw Annabeth sprawled on the floor of a dark cavern, holding up her bronze knife as if warding off some monster. Her face was gaunt, her leg wrapped in some sort of splint. Though we couldn't see what she was looking at, it was obviously something horrible. As much as I wanted to believe it was a lie, there was something within me that knew it was real, and that it was happening right now.

" _And even now, I have three of the five required for…a special surprise._ " The scene shifted to the bronze jar where Nico was being held, but instead of it just being him, Zy and Veon were in the jar alongside him, coughing hard as they struggled to breathe. Zy struggled to move over and grab Veon's hand before the image zoomed to outside the jar where Kaze was standing alongside the twins Ephialtes and Otis, but he didn't seem to be held prisoner in any way. He glared at the bronze jar as the twins argued about something behind him, looking like he was angry at it. Did he know his sister was in there? Had he betrayed…? No, that couldn't be…he'd  _never_  do that to his sister. I hadn't known him long, but I'd seen the love and devotion he felt towards Zy. He would do anything to protect her. He wouldn't ever hurt her in a million years.

" _Now I have you, Emily Hezesto, the fourth of the five I require. Even Audrey Mavepo is now within my grasp. The others, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, and my dear friend Percy Jackson - they will perish within minutes, and Audrey shall be brought to me along with you, Emily._ " The scene changed again. Percy was holding Riptide, leading Audrey, Jason and Piper down a spiral staircase into the darkness. " _Their powers will betray them. They will die in their own elements. I almost hoped they would survive. They would have made a better sacrifice. But alas, Hazel and Frank will have to do. My minions will collect you shortly and bring you to the ancient place. Your blood will awaken me at last. Until then, I will allow you to watch your friends perish. Please…enjoy this last glimpse of your failed quest._ " Leo snapped, his hand glowing white hot. Hazel and Frank scrambled back as he pressed his palm against the mirror and melted it into a puddle of bronze goo. The voice of Gaea was silent, and I put my hand on Leo's shoulder to calm his tide of rage.

"Sorry," He said, taking a shaky breath as he stabilized. "She was getting annoying."

"What do we do?" Frank asked. "We have to get out and help the others." Leo scanned the workshop, now littered with smoking pieces of broken spheres, and I activated my powers to connect with him, borrowing his smarts once more. There was a way out of here, and I felt his determination just as strong as his anger against Gaea had been a moment before. We weren't going to sit around helplessly watching the Demigods Death Channel.

"I've got an idea," Leo said. "But it's going to take all of us. Emily? You thinking my thoughts again?"

"Yep," I said nodding. We started telling them the plan.


	34. Our Worth to The Gods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but necessary.
> 
> Question: Did the alert not go out for the last chapter? I didn't get the usual buzz and chime on my phone when I updated, at least. I hear this happens to other people to. I guess there is a lot of fan fic on this site, and so there are bound to be issues.
> 
> All that stuff that I usually put at the beginning and/or end of a chapter! Enjoy, review (please no hate) and such.
> 
> :)

First Person: Kaze

I'm not sure how long I was running, where I was running, or when I stopped, but I found myself in a forest when I finally came to a stop and fell to the ground. I wished that Onesan would just understand, I wished she'd just open her mind and see Mother's point of view.

 _Your father left because of you_.

 _Because he left, your sister - your mother - died_.

 _You killed your mother_.

"Stop it!" I shouted, holding my head. Tsuchi wasn't killed because of me…I didn't kill her.

 _She was stupid and got pregnant as a teenager, as an orphan on the run. She was stupid and didn't try and fix her life once you'd been born. It's her fault she died and you were left alone, not Hermes'. No, wait, it was_ your  _fault, wasn't it? The moment she was pregnant with you, he left_.

 _Your existence is the reason she suffered. It's all your fault_.

It's all my fault, isn't it? It's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault…

" _My child, do not cry._ "

"Mother?" She formed in front of me from the ground, her sleeping face calm and serene, yet also filled with sympathy.

" _It is not your fault._ "

"But it is! If I had just never been born, Tsuchi…she could've been happy, she could have lived, and Hermes wouldn't have left her! If I had never been born, Tsuchi wouldn't have…!" It was better to blame myself than Tsuchi for her sadness. All Tsuchi did was get manipulated by a god into loving him, only to be given misery in return, only to die a painful death. This was Hermes's fault too. If he had never targeted Tsuchi, she could have had a happy life without all this god crap happening to her. If he had never given her me, then he wouldn't have had to leave her.

" _Do you know the real reason why Hermes left your mother?_ " I looked up to Mother in confusion.

"Real…reason?"

" _Why Hermes left you, despite not wanting to_."

"Because the gods can never stay around when we demigods are born. If Hermes had never created me, then he probably could've stayed with Tsuchi for as long as they wanted to be together. Tsuchi could've been happy, and she wouldn't have died alone. She wouldn't have died like she did, begging for Hermes to come, but him being unable to since I was around."

" _Hermes would've helped you, even if he couldn't be there physically,_ " Mother said. " _Under normal circumstances, the gods do keep an eye on their children, and answer some of their most desperate pleas. Hermes was a special case, though._ You  _were a special case. He was ordered never to help you by his father, Zeus._ "

"Zeus? The king or whatever of the Olympian gods? Why…? But…what have I done to deserve…? Why would he order Hermes…not to help us? Why would he order me and my…my mother to die?!"

" _He was afraid of you. It was said, in one of Apollo's prophecies, that you hold the power to turn the tides of this war, and in fear of the possibility of your turning against the gods, he wished you killed. After consulting Apollo prophecies once more, it was deemed his best course of action was to forbid Hermes from making any contact or helping you in any way. It was said in Apollo's prophecies, that you would die before you reached ten were he to do that, before you could become a proper threat._ "

"Did he…? Is he working with that goddess manipulating…?" I couldn't call her Onesan, I just couldn't. But I wanted to desperately, to believe she really did care about me, that everything we had wasn't all just a lie.

 _You were afraid of being alone, huh?! You couldn't handle the thought of being without your precious mother! When I came along, you just wanted someone to fill the hole in your heart! You just wanted to have_ someone  _there for you in her place because you're a big baby who can't handle himself in the dark without mommy and daddy there to hold his hand!_

_I hate you!_

She hated me. She only became my friend so that she could perform that weird curse thing on me that had killed me. All for that stupid goddess she worships so much. If that goddess was working with Zeus, who wants me dead, then that means that Rei most likely wants me dead too. She purposefully killed me under her goddess's orders, who was working with Zeus. But I knew she hated it. I had seen the hurt in her eyes when she did what she did. So at first she only agreed to take me along with her because her goddess told her to, and then we became  _real_  friends? Real family? Was that what happened? Or did she just go along with me so that I'd trust her and she could kill me once more?

" _Yes, they work to keep me and my children in check, and are fully willing to turn on family if they pose a threat to their reign. Zeus stood back and watched up in Olympus as you, your mother, your father, and your sister all suffered._ " Those evil gods have hurt so many people all for their own selfish needs. The gods were worried about the  _possibility_  that I'd go against them and so they thought that I deserved to be killed, that Tsuchi deserved to have her life ruined and to die alone, that Rei deserved to have her life taken away from her and to make her do things that she hated, things that she would've never done otherwise. If there's even the slightest possibility that someone poses a threat to their rule they're killed mercilessly. We mean nothing to them. Those gods have destroyed so many lives, and they'll never stop. Especially Zeus.

"Will you destroy Zeus painfully?" I muttered.

" _Indeed. He has many crimes to pay for. Of course, the power he was so afraid of still lies within you. I can teach you how to use it, and if it is your desire, you can be the one to kill him with the power he ruined your life for._ "

"What is it? The power?"

" _Your power alone can tear down anything in your path. If we collect four others and have them work with you, you could destroy the gods by barely lifting a finger. Zeus would be helpless against you, even with all the gods by his side._ "

"What about my father? Would he stand by Zeus?"

" _Not willingly. There are many that only follow Zeus because they have no other choice, because they fear his power. If Zeus is killed, many of the gods will fall just from despair, and others will stand down to join our cause without their dictator to force them otherwise. We must crush the demigods that stand by the gods and force their wills against us. We will break down their unfair system and free those trapped in their evil grasp. If your father is one of those people, he shall be freed. With your power, we could free your sister from the goddess that manipulates her. If my children gain control of the Underworld, even your mother could be brought back to you. Your entire family could be reunited, Kaze Grigora. All you need do is follow my instructions, and win this war with me._ "

"Hai," I agreed.

" _First, I have a task for you. You are to join the twins Ephialtes and Otis in holding prisoner a few people in a bronze jar. Your sister's little "friends" will most likely be coming for them. You must not let them succeed._ "

"You mean the jar holding Veon's brother, Nico?"

" _Yes. If they succeed in retrieving the location of the Doors of Death and, against all odds, find a way to close them, a good deal of my children will be trapped in Tartarus until they can reform, which will take many years, and it will be near impossible to retrieve them for the war for their freedom._ "

"Then I'll stop them." I nodded, and she held out her hand. When I took it, she pulled me under the earth.

* * *

When I came out again, I stood in a large room, like a parking garage, filled with numerous things, from pulleys, trenches and gears, to actual animals like hellhounds in hamster wheels. Above, there were a variety of live animals suspended in cages. A small ways ahead, on a raised dais, between two empty, oversized praetor chairs I saw a bronze jar about five feet in diameter and about five feet tall. It looked like it wouldn't hold a lot of people, maybe three or four at most.

"So you're the boy sent to assist us, eh?" The giant with purple hair asked me in surprisingly fluent Japanese. He was short by giant terms, maybe twelve feet, and his outfit was…eccentric, to say the least.

"Yes. You are Ephialtes?"

"Yes, and this is Otis." He motioned to his twin with green hair. "I assume we don't need to go through introductions and everything has already been explained to you."

"Stop the so called heroes when they come to rescue their friends in the jar. Simple. I want to gods taken down, Zeus in particular."

"Strong words, coming from a demigod. You understand that if you die, your soul shall be deemed a traitor to the gods, and they will most likely send you to Punishment until the rest of us either succeed, or you stay there forever if we fail."

"I understand that well. The gods hold all of us hostage, threatening us because they're more powerful, and therefore keeping their dictatorship going. I'm going to stop them, and I am  _not_  going to die unless Zeus is going down with me. He'll pay for what he's done to me and my family just because it was convenient for him."

"Very well. When the heroes arrive, we have a plan for a grand entrance and a show for the battle. We can teach you what we have prepared, though we are short on time."

"I think I'll settle with just welcoming them or something," I said nervously. Really, I wasn't in the mood for learning about these giants' bad performances they had planned, especially if they were going to try and get me into one of those outfits.

"Nonsense. We'll give you the basic outline of the plan at least."

"I'm still thinking a ballet would be wonderful after the-"

"For goodness sake, Otis! No ballets!" The two twins began arguing, as Otis seemed very passionate about this whole ballet thing. As long as I wasn't forced to be a part of it, I didn't really care. They began to go over the outline of their plan, but I was only half listening as my eyes wandered over to the jar that was holding Veon's brother, Nico di Angelo. Veon seemed like a pretty nice guy, I'll admit. He was probably only against Mother because his brother had been taken by her. Maybe I could talk to him, work this out and get him to see Mother's point of view. Maybe he can help me convince Rei too.

Rei. Stubborn Rei. Being manipulated by the gods into doing terrible things, having her entire life controlled and ruined by them. Yet she still doesn't see it. She's willing to give up everything, even me, even her own life, just for those selfish bastards. I had to wake her up, I had to make her see what I did.

The big question now was whether I should let Nico di Angelo live. He  _was_  Veon's brother, and if I wanted him on our side, his brother's death probably wouldn't help us. He was only meant to be bait to draw the others here. It probably wouldn't be too much to let the kid free once the others had arrived. Sure, he held the location of Tartarus, but so did Veon. There wasn't any point in killing them if we could get them to see our side and then work with us.

"…and we'll make sure their deaths and our victory will be remembered for millennia!" Ephialtes finished confidently.

"Don't underestimate them," I warned. "I've spent some time with them, and I know that despite appearances, they've got tricks and luck on their side, and sometimes, that's enough to win any battle."

"They can't defeat the two of us without a god, and what god would help them?"

"You never know. They tried making a sacrifice to Dionysus, and a pretty big one at that."

"What did they give?"

"A ship's worth of gold, jewels and such. Chrysaor's ship, to be exact."

"If Dionysus accepted  _that_  as tribute, we must've overestimated our opponent for all these years. Dionysus may pale in comparison to us, but even he's a worthy enough adversary that he wouldn't help them just for a ship of gold and jewels. Honestly."

"If you say so. Still, they have many allies, and they've been able to make it past many of Mother's traps and schemes. They've made it this far, so I wouldn't underestimate them."

"You're a weird kid, you know that?" Otis randomly blurted in a slightly more inept Japanese accent. I was so used to hearing American accents and bad Japanese accents by now that I was still able to translate it, but after our short meeting, I've already figured out which twin is the smarter one.

"I've heard," I responded, straight-faced.

"You might make a good actor someday. What tricks do you know?" I explained some of my powers, but that was a pretty bad idea, since the two twins began thinking of acts that I could be a part of. Okay so maybe Ephialtes isn't as…err, respectable as I assumed. Never thought I'd hear two giants argue about making a performance before they killed their enemies. Oh boy. What had I gotten myself into?


	35. Into Piper's Prophecy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a pretty slow part of the story, especially for someone who already knows what's going to happen. Is that just me? Anyway, I have a million and one plans for the end of this book and especially the next one, but until we get there, bear with me.
> 
> Review! All that stuff! I want to hear from you, dear readers!

First Person: Audrey

It was official. I was a terrible babysitter. Don't get me wrong, I was awesome back before the whole demigod business, but before the whole demigod business, the kids that I had to look over weren't able to run away from me at the speed of sound, and silently at that. Within three minutes, Kaze had suddenly disappeared, and I wasn't able to find him anywhere. Even if he was still on the ship, he could probably stay out of my sight like a ninja considering how surprisingly quiet he can be when in speed-mode. He was probably half way through Rome by now, and there'd be no way for me to retrieve him.

When Piper and Jason got tired of pacing the deck, listening to Coach Hedge sing "Old MacDonald" - with weapons instead of insults (I guess I understand why Kaze made a break for it), they decided to have a picnic in the park. Hedge grudgingly agreed, as long as I would go with them and watch over them.

"And stay where I can see you," He ordered.

"What are we, kids?" Jason asked. Hedge snorted.

"Kids are baby goats. They're cute, and they have redeeming social value. You are definitely not kids." We headed out and spread a blanket under a willow tree next to a pond. Piper turned over her cornucopia and spilled out an entire meal - neatly wrapped sandwiches, canned drinks, fresh fruit, and (for some reason) a birthday cake with purple icing and candles already lit.

"Uh, is it someone's birthday?" I asked. Jason winced.

"I wasn't going to say anything."

"Jason!" Piper chided.

"There's too much going on," He said. "And honestly…before last month, I didn't even know when my birthday  _was_. Thalia told me the last time she was at camp." I wondered what it was like to not even know the day you were born. Jason had been given to Lupa the wolf when he was only two years old. He'd never really known his mortal mom, but according to Thalia, she was a real…well, his not knowing her might've been a good thing. Plus, he'd only been reunited with Thalia last winter.

"July First," Piper mused. "The Kalends of July."

"Yeah." Jason smirked. "The Romans would find that auspicious - the first day of the month named for Julius Caesar. Juno's sacred day. Yippee."

"Sixteen?" I asked. He nodded.

"Oh, boy. I can get my driver's license."

"Trust me, it's hell," I said, smiling to try and keep the mood light. Piper laughed. Considering all we'd been through, how many monsters that we've killed, and how we're currently trying to save the world  _again_ , the idea of him sweating over a driver's test just seemed ridiculous. I pictured him behind the wheel of some old Lincoln with a  **STUDENT DRIVER**  sign on top and a grumpy teacher in the passenger seat with an emergency brake pedal.

"Well?" Piper urged. "Blow out the candles." Jason did so, and I wondered if he'd made a wish. Well, best not to ask and jinx it, especially with the luck of a demigod. Voice your wishes to the Fates, and they celebrate at the chance to shove it in your face. Yea!

Ever since yesterday when we'd left the Pillars of Hercules, Jason had seemed distracted. I couldn't really blame him. If Percy had ended up being a jerk of a brother when I'd met him, I'd be pretty disappointed too. Not to mention that Achelous had said some unflattering things about the sons of Jupiter, apparently. I mean, if any Greek book that I'd ever read was anything to go by, then yeah, things were crazy a few millennia ago, but surely things have changed. Heroes are different nowadays, most of them, anyway. There's still the occasional rotten apple, but that isn't anything to judge  _all_  demigods by.

I looked at the cornucopia Piper had gotten from the old river god. I wondered if he was doing okay. If Zy and Emily's interpretations of the story were accurate, that guy must've had it rough, and having his second horn stolen must've been a major hit to his pride. At least Herc the Jerk didn't get it. I don't understand how such a lonely and depressed spirit could produce a horn of plenty that shot out pineapples and birthday cakes. Maybe the cornucopia had been draining all the happiness out of him over the years, and now that it was gone, he would be able to fill up with some happiness and keep it for himself.

Though he'd attacked the others, it wasn't like he had much of a choice, and when Zy said she might go back and visit a lot of the people we've been meeting, keep them company over the years and/or centuries, it kinda sounded like a good idea. There  _were_  a lot of people/gods/other things that were victims of circumstance, suffering fates they never asked for, fates they regret, fates they'd do anything to change. Some are immortal, and therefore stuck suffering forever. Kinda reminds me of Cie'th from Final Fantasy XIII. I may not have been as good at videogames as Veon or Zy, but I did see the storylines of the games they played while we were all together, and I heard numerous times that a Cie'th's only purpose was to wander the world until someone freed them from their pain.

There was also a story of a flood that the river god had apparently mentioned, and Zy explained how it was an old Cherokee version of the Noah's Ark thing. I'm not sure how it applied to life right now, but it definitely meant  _something_ , and if my English teachers were watching right now, they'd be telling me how to "think life with literary interpretations," or something like that.

Jason plucked an extinguished candle from his cake.

"I've been thinking." Piper suddenly snapped to attention, probably thinking that the ' _I've been thinking_ ' line was not a good thing to hear from your boyfriend.

"About?" She asked.

"Camp Jupiter," He said. "All the years I trained there. We were always pushing teamwork, working as a unit. I thought I understood what that meant. But honestly? I was always the leader. Even when I was younger-"

"The Son of Jupiter," Piper said. "The most powerful kid in the legion. You were the star." Jason looked uncomfortable, but he didn't deny it.

"Being in this crew of…uh, we're at 12 now…I'm not sure what to do. I'm not used to being one of so many, well, equals. I feel like I'm failing." Piper took his hand.

"You're  _not_  failing."

"It sure felt that way when Chrysaor attacked. I've spent most of this trip knocked out and helpless."

"Chrysler made  _all_  of us feel helpless, Jace," I said. "Heck, Percy was the one who barely came up with a plan to beat him and even  _he_  felt helpless. That Chrysler was a better swordsman than Lityerses, meaning you wouldn't have fared much better against him even if you  _hadn't_  been knocked out. Even Zy got a cut when facing him, and she's got goddess power behind her."

"Besides," Piper continued. "Being a hero doesn't mean you're invincible or undefeatable. It just means that you're brave enough to stand up and do what's needed."

"And what if I don't  _know_  what's needed?"

"That's what your friends are for. We've all got different strengths. Together we'll figure it out."

"Diversity is what makes us unpredictable," I recited. "You don't carry this entire quest on your shoulders, Jason. There are twelve of us - thirteen counting Hedge - and we've all got to work together, not leave it all to one person. You know how you worked with Reyna as an equal back when you were a praetor? Think of it like that, just times 10 - or 12, I suppose." I wasn't sure if Jason bought what I was saying, as you can never be sure with the hero types. At least he was the hero that didn't believe in himself, rather than the guy who was full of himself. Having a little self-doubt was a good trait for a hero. He didn't always succeed, but he didn't think the universe owed him an apology whenever something went wrong - unlike many people we'd met recently, and including one that we had seen not long ago.

"Hercules was a jerk," Jason said, reading my thoughts. "I never want to be like that. But I wouldn't have had the courage to stand up to him without your taking the lead. And Zy's, course, but the point is, you were the hero that time."

"Not to mention that time she saved you from Medea," I added.

"We can take turns saving each other," She suggested.

"I don't deserve you," He said.

"You're not allowed to say that."

"Why not?"

"It's a breakup line. Unless you're breaking up-" Jason leaned over and kissed her. I diverted my attention to the food, hoping I wasn't a third wheel.

"No breakups," He promised. "I may have busted my head a few times, but I'm not  _that_  stupid."

"Good," I said. "Now, about that cake…" My words were cut off as I saw Percy running towards us, and I could tell from here that he didn't bring good news. We packed up the picnic and gathered on deck so that Coach Hedge could hear the story. He explained how Annabeth and Zy had been taken by Tiber-rinno and Raya Silver - who apparently looked like Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn - and as Percy and Veon had been on their way back, Veon had insisted that he go and look for Nico and Zy, shadow traveling away before Percy could protest and leaving him alone to head back to the Argo II.

"So Annabeth and Zy were kidnapped on a motor scooter by Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn," Piper summed up.

"Not kidnapped, exactly," Percy said. "But I've got this bad feeling…" He took a deep breath, like he was trying hard not to freak out. "Anyway, she's…she's gone. Maybe I shouldn't have let her, but-"

"You had to," I said. "You knew she had to go alone. Besides, Annabeth's tough and smart. She'll be fine. I'm worried a bit about Veon, though. If he's run off alone, who knows what kind of trouble he could get into? He could shadow travel right into the giants' trap for all we know."

"I guess you're right," Percy said. "Gregory - I mean Tiberinus - said we had less time to rescue Nico than we thought. Hazel and the guys aren't back yet?" Piper checked the time on the helm control.

"It's two in the afternoon. We said three o'clock for a rendezvous."

"At the latest," Jason corrected. Percy pointed to Piper's dagger.

"Tiberinus said you could find Nico's location…you know, with that." Piper bit her lip. I knew from Emily that drawing Katoptris didn't exactly give Piper nice images. If Veon were here, we could just let him home in on Nico like Haze had done, or if Zy were here, she might know where to look too.

"I've tried," Piper said. "The dagger doesn't always show what I want to see. In fact, it hardly  _ever_  does."

"Please," Percy begged. "Try again." He pleaded with those sea-green eyes, like a cute baby seal that needed help.

"Fine," Piper reluctantly agreed, drawing her dagger.

"While you're at it, see if you can get the latest baseball scores," Hedge requested. "Italians don't cover baseball worth beans."

"Shh," I hushed. The light in the bronze blade shimmered to reveal a loft apartment filled with Romans demigods. A dozen of them stood around a dining table as Octavian talked and pointed to a big map. Reyna paced next to the windows, gazing down at Central Park.

"That's not good," Jason muttered. "They've already set up a forward base in Manhattan."

"And that map shows Long Island," Percy said.

"They're scouting the territory," Jason guessed. "Discussing invasion routes."

"Zy said she had a plan to hold them off," I remembered. "She's probably got the Greeks prepared for the legion already. Plus, she said she planned to send a surprise their way, make sure the battle stays neutral, no one dying, until we can get back there. They'll be fine." Light rippled across the blade again as Piper concentrated, and next, we saw ruins - a few crumbling walls, a single column, a stone floor covered with moss and dead vines - all clustered on a grassy hillside dotted with pine trees.

"I was just there," Percy said. "That's in the old Forum." The view zoomed in. On one side of the stone floor, a set of stairs had been excavated, leading down to a modern iron gate with a padlock. The blade's image zoomed straight through the doorway, down a spiral stairwell, and into a dark, cylindrical chamber like the inside of a grain silo. Piper suddenly dropped the blade in horror. Emily had told me about what she'd seen, the image of the four of us drowning in that very room.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked. "It was showing us something." Piper looked like she was going to have a panic attack.

"We can't go there," She declared. Percy frowned.

"Piper, Nico is dying. We've got to find him. Not to mention, Rome is about to get destroyed." I wasn't exactly Emily, and I didn't know the right words that would convince Piper, but I had to give it my best try.

"Come on, Piper. We can make it past whatever challenges we face. Besides, we can't just sit here and do nothing." Piper took a few shaky breaths, still not convinced, but not sharing her vision. She reluctantly picked up the knife again, forcing herself to look at the blade.

We saw the two giants in gladiator armor sitting on oversized praetors' chairs. The giants toasted each other with golden goblets as if they'd just won an important fight. In front of them, Kaze sat at the base of the dais the giants were sitting upon, fiddling with the shuriken that his sister had given him with his robotic cat on his shoulder, pawing at him as though it was asking for food. He swatted at it to stop and Neko backed off sadly. Ephialtes said something to Kaze, raising his goblet as though offering him a drink, but he responded with an aggravated look on his face, as though threatening the giant to shut up. Ephialtes just shrugged and drank out of his large gold cup.

"What's Kaze doing there?" Percy asked.

"He kinda ran away a while ago," I admitted. "You try stopping a kid that can run faster than the speed of sound."

"What the hell is he doing with the giants?" Jason asked skeptically.

"He probably found them but was caught. He has to just be playing along and buying time until we arrive. If he ran, no doubt that Nico would be dead already. I can't understand what he says, but I can see that he'd never betray his sister. Just look at him. He looks like he wants to murder the twins, but obviously, he can't win two against one, and he can't kill them without a god. It's smarter to just play along and not waste his energy."

The vision in the knife zoomed into the jar that sat between the two giants. Inside the jar, Nico di Angelo was no longer moving, all the pomegranate seeds eaten. Nico wasn't much of a surprise, but the fact that Zy and Veon were also in the jar with him, made all of us tense together. Zy was gripping either of the boys' hands tightly, her face strained in concentration as her aura from her curse power surrounded the three of them. She was keeping the three of them alive within the poisonous air, and while that did give Nico more time, two of our friends, and one of them the most powerful of the group, were out of commission.

"Guess that explains why Kaze looked so ticked," Percy said grimly. "Zy's bought us some time. We have to hurry." The blade's surface went dark, and Piper sheathed her weapon, trying to keep her hands from shaking.

"We should wait for the others," She said. "Hazel, Frank, Emily and Leo should be back soon."

"We can't wait," Percy insisted. "Zy may be strong and powerful, but it looked like she couldn't hold out for much longer." Coach Hedge grunted.

"It's just two giants. If you guys want, I can take them."

"Uh, Coach, that's a great offer, but we need you to man the ship," I said. "Or… _goat_  the ship, I suppose. Whatever." Hedge scowled.

"And let you four have all the fun?" Percy gripped the satyr's arm.

"Hazel and the others need you here. When they get back, they'll need your leadership. You're their rock."

"Yeah," Jason said, managing to keep a straight face. "Leo always says you're his rock. You can tell them where we've gone and bring the ship around to meet us at the Forum."

"And if there's trouble, we obviously trust no one else to man the ballistae," I added.

"And here." Piper unstrapped Katoptris and put it in Coach Hedge's hands. The satyr's eyes widened. A demigod was never supposed to leave her weapon behind, but clearly Piper was fed up with evil visions. Sometimes getting previews isn't as good as you'd think, especially in this life. "Keep an eye on us with the blade," She suggested. "And you can check the baseball scores." That sealed the deal. Hedge nodded grimly, prepared to do his part for the quest.

"All right," He said. "But if any giants come this way-"

"Feel free to blast them," I said.

"What about annoying tourists?"

"No," We all said in unison.

"Bah. Fine. Just don't take too long, or I'm coming after you with the ballistae blazing."

"Fair enough," I muttered. Percy led us off to our location easily, on an abandoned stretch of hillside overlooking the ruined Forum. Getting in was easy enough too. Just one swing of my sword and the padlock was sliced in half, the metal gate creaking open. No mortals saw us, no alarms went off, and it seemed like a straightforward path down the stone steps spiraling down into the gloom.

"I'll go first," Jason said.

"No!" Piper yelped. Both of the boys turned to her in confusion.

"Pipes, what is it?" Jason asked. "That image in the blade…you've seen it before, haven't you?" She nodded, her eyes looking on the verge of tears.

"I didn't know how to tell you. I saw the room down there filling with water. I saw the three of us drowning." Jason and Percy frowned.

"The two of us can't drown," Percy said, though he sounded like he was asking a question.

"In water, at least," I reminded him. "Remember what I said before? The only thing we  _can't_  drown in is water. Maybe it's not water that's down there. Always assume the worst, and never underestimate prophecies."

"Maybe the future changed," Jason speculated. "In the image you showed us just now, there wasn't any water."

"I don't know," I muttered. "Zy has always told me that prophecies and visions of the future can never change once they're known, and I trust the word of an Apollo girl. Most of the time, though, there's always more to them, a catch that gives us a chance. We shouldn't ever be over confident, but we should still remain open-minded, right?"

"Look, I'll check it out first," Percy said. "It's fine. Be right back." Before Piper could object, he disappeared down the stairwell. I rolled my eyes at Percy's blatant disregard for caution, as he just stormed down the steps without us. If there  _is_  a threat, maybe we'd hear him call out to us, but separation is always a wild card, especially when there's a person going on their own. No matter how many times we told him not to walk alone overconfidently into a dangerous situation, he never changed. Piper was clearly counting the seconds until Percy returned, and around 35, we heard his footsteps and my brother returned, looking more baffled than relieved.

"Good news: no water," He reported. "Bad news: I don't see any exits down there. And, uh, weird news: well, you should see this…" We descended cautiously, Percy taking the lead with Riptide drawn. I had my dagger out, walking behind him in second, with Piper behind me and Jason at the rear. The stairwell was a cramped corkscrew of masonry, no more than six feet in diameter. In tight spaces like this, a sword would be at a major disadvantage, and so my dagger and possibly Piper's cornucopia would be the only useful weapons if worse came to worst (which, let's be honest,  _always_  happens when it comes to our lives). Maybe Piper could shoot our enemies with high-velocity smoked hams.

As we wound our way underground, I saw old graffiti gouged into the stones: Roman numerals, names and phrases in Italian. That meant other people had been down here more recently than the Roman Empire, but that wasn't reassuring. If monsters were below, they'd ignore mortals, waiting for some nice juicy demigods to come along. At least the monsters were kind enough to not kill mortals, as doing so would make our lives even worse, causing us to have to reveal ourselves as "different"  _at the least_  in order to constantly protect them. Nightmare.

We finally reached the bottom, and Percy turned.

"Watch this last step." He jumped to the floor of the cylindrical room, which was five feet lower than the stairwell. If someone had built a stairwell like this, it might suggest that it was meant to trap someone down in this bottom room, the stairs able to easily be cut off. The thought didn't exactly comfort me, but with Piper and Jason behind me, Percy down there below me, and no way to avoid any prophecies, I forced myself to jump down after my brother. Piper clambered down behind me, Jason following.

The curved walls of the room had once been painted with frescos, which were now faded to eggshell white with only flecks of color. The domed ceiling was about fifty feet above, and around the back side of the room, opposite of the stairwell, nine alcoves were carved into the wall. Each niche was about five feet off the floor and big enough for a human-sized statue, but each was empty. The air felt cold and dry, and as Percy had said, there were no other exits. This was the kind of room that could possibly feel claustrophobic if one focused too much on it, and I didn't want to know what kind of traps could be in here.

"All right," Percy said, raising his eyebrows. "Here's the weird part. Watch." He stepped to the middle of the room. Instantly, green and blue light rippled across the walls, and I heard the sound of a fountain despite there being no source in sight. There didn't seem to be any source of light except for the boys' and my blades.

"Do you smell the ocean?" Percy asked. At first, I hadn't really noticed it, considering Percy always smelled like the sea, but he was right. The scent of salt water and storm was getting stronger, like a summer hurricane was approaching.

"An illusion?" Piper hazarded a guess. My mouth began to feel dry, and I was suddenly really thirsty.

"It  _feels_  like there should be water here," I said. "Lots of water. But there isn't any."

"You're right," Percy agreed. "I've never been to a place like this." Jason moved to the row of niches. He touched the bottom shelf of the nearest one, which was just at his eye level.

"This stone…it's embedded with seashells. This is a nymphaeum."

"A what?" Piper asked.

"A shrine to nymphs?" I guessed. He nodded.

"We have one at Camp Jupiter on Temple Hill." I walked over and ran my hand along the bottom of another niche. He was right. The alcove was studded with cowries, conches, and scallops. The seashells seemed to dance in the watery light, and they were ice-cold to the touch. This place didn't feel like any nymphs I've ever met before. Usually they were pretty harmless, like the ones at Camp Half-Blood, or streams in the woods where we'd usually encounter nymphs. The ones with Narcissus seemed a bit…crazy, but even they didn't give off the kind of feel I was getting here. This place felt so unnatural, hostile, and  _very_  dry.

Jason stepped back and examined the row of alcoves.

"Shrines like this were all over the place in Ancient Rome. Rich people had them outside their villas to honor nymphs, to make sure the local water was always fresh. Some shrines were built around natural springs, but most were man-made."

"So…no actual nymphs lived here?" Piper asked hopefully."

"Not sure," Jason admitted. "This place where we're standing would have been a pool with a fountain. A lot of times, if the nymphaeum belonged to a demigod, he or she would invite the nymphs to live there. If the spirits took up residence, that was considered good luck."

"For the owner," Percy guessed. "But it would also bind the nymphs to the new water source."

"Which would be great if the fountain was in a nice sunny park with fresh water pumped through the aqueducts-" I continued.

"But this place has been underground for centuries," Piper guessed. "Dry and buried. What would happen to the nymphs?" The sound of water changed to a chorus of hissing, like ghostly snakes. The rippling light shifted from sea blue and green to purple and sickly lime. While Veon might like the color pattern, I did  _not_ think that it was going to mean anything good for us. Above us, the nine niches glowed. They were no longer empty.

Standing in each was a withered old woman, so dried up and brittle they reminded me of mummies - except mummies didn't normally move. Their eyes were dark purple, as if the clear blue water of their life source had condensed and thickened inside them. Their fine silk dresses were now tattered and faded. Their hair had once been piled in curls, arranged with jewels in the style of Roman noblewomen, but now their locks were disheveled and dry as straw. If water cannibals actually existed, this is what they would look like.

" _What would happen to the nymphs?_ " Said the creature in the center niche. She was in even worse shape than the others. Her back was hunched like the handle of a pitcher, her skeletal hands had only the thinnest papery layer of skin, and on her head, a battered wreath of golden laurels glinted in her roadkill hair. She fixed her purple eyes on Piper.

"What an interesting question, my dear. Perhaps the nymphs would still be here, suffering, waiting for revenge." I  _knew_  that Katoptris hadn't been showing us the entire story. Nine evil, desiccated zombie nymphs, and an image of us drowning. Makes sense. I looked back the way we came, and as predicted, the doorway had disappeared. Nothing was there now but a blank wall, and I suspected that it wasn't just an illusion. Besides, I doubt we could ever make it to the opposite side of the room before the zombie nymphs could jump on us.

Jason and Percy stood on either side of Piper with me in front of her. She was the only one weaponless, and while I knew the three of us were strong, Katoptris had already shown us our fate. One way or another, these things were going to defeat us and try to drown us. Still, the boys had their swords ready to fight, and I had my water bottle cap unscrewed.

"Who are you?" Percy demanded. The central nymph turned her head.

"Ah…names. We once had names. I was Hagno, the first of the nine!" It seemed like a cruel joke that this hag would be named  _Hagno_ , but I managed to withhold the comment.

"The nine," Jason repeated. "The nymphs of this shrine. There were always nine niches."

"Of course," Hagno said, baring her teeth in a vicious smile. "But we are the  _original_  nine, Jason Grace, the ones who attended the birth of your father." Jason's sword dipped.

"You mean Jupiter? You were there when he was  _born?_ "

"Zeus, we called him then," Hagno said. "Such a squealing whelp. We attended Rhea in her labor. When the baby arrived, we hid him so that his father, Kronos, would not eat him. Ah, he had lungs, that baby! It was all we could do to drown out the noise so Kronos could not find him. When Zeus grew up, we were promised eternal honors. But that was in the old country, in Greece." The other nymphs wailed and clawed at their niches. They seemed to be trapped in them, I realized, as if their feet were glued to the stone along with the decorative seashells. "When Rome rose to power, we were invited here," Hagno continued. "A son of Jupiter tempted us with favors.  _A new home_ , he promised.  _Bigger and better! No down payment, an excellent neighborhood. Rome will last forever._ "

"Forever," The others hissed.

"We gave in to temptation," Hagno said. "We left our simple wells and springs on Mount Lycaeus and moved here. For centuries, our lives were wonderful! Parties, sacrifices in our honor, new dresses and jewelry every week. All the demigods of Rome flirted with us and honored us." The nymphs wailed and sighed. "But Rome did not last," Hagno snarled. "The aqueducts were diverted, our master's villa was abandoned and torn down, we were forgotten, buried under the earth, but we could not leave. Our life sources were bound to this place; our old master never saw fit to release us. For centuries, we have withered here in the darkness, thirsty…so thirsty." The others clawed at their mouths.

"I'm sorry for you," Piper said, trying to use her charm speak. "That must have been terrible. But we are not your enemies. If we can help you-"

"Oh, such a sweet voice!" Hagno cried. "Such beautiful features. I was once young like you. My voice was as soothing as a mountain stream. But do you know what happens to a nymph's mind when she is trapped in the dark, with nothing to feed on but hatred, nothing to drink but thoughts of violence? Yes, my dear, you can help us." Percy raised his hand.

"Uh, we're the children of Poseidon. Maybe we can summon a new water source." Might be a little late for that, Perce.

"Ha!" Hagno cried, and the other eight echoed, "Ha! Ha!"

"Indeed, son of Poseidon," Hagno said. "I know your father well. Ephialtes and Otis promised you would come." Piper put her hand on Jason's arm for balance.

"The giants," She said. "You're working for them?"

"They are our neighbors." Hagno smiled. "Their chambers lie beyond this place, where the aqueduct's water was diverted for the games. Once we have dealt with you…once you have  _helped_  us…the twins have promised we will never suffer again."

"You were promised that Rome would be eternal and ended up here," I said. "Promises like that are complete bull, and you should know it."

"Ah, but your presence here proves otherwise. The twins spoke the truth of your arrival, and now we shall drink." She turned to Jason. "You, child of Jupiter - for the horrible betrayal of your predecessor who brought us here, you shall pay. I know the sky god's powers, I raised him as a baby! Once, we nymphs controlled the rain above our wells and springs. When I am done with you, we will have that power again. Percy Jackson, Audrey Mavepo, children of the sea god…from you, we will take water, an endless supply of water."

"Endless?" Percy asked. The two of us eyed each other and then each of the nymphs. "Uh…look, I don't know about  _endless_."

"But maybe we could spare a few gallons," I added.

"And you, Piper McLean." Hagno's purple eyes glistened. "So young, so lovely, so gifted with your sweet voice. From you, we will reclaim our beauty. We have saved our last life force for this day. We are very thirsty. From you four, we shall drink!" All nine niches glowed. The nymphs disappeared, and water poured from their alcoves - sickly dark water, like oil.


	36. To Let the Dead Sing and Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My goodness, there's still so much to do in this story. I'm like, jumping for joy with a million ideas for House of Hades, but we must finish this in order to get there. Then, once I'm writing House of Hades, all my ideas are going to be in Blood of Olympus. My brain likes to work faster than my hands possibly can.
> 
> Review, and please inform me of spelling/grammar mistakes, as every time I go back and read old chapters, I find at least one.
> 
> Enjoy! :)

First Person: Audrey

This man had a dog. Every day the man took his dog to the edge of the lake to get water, and the dog would bark furiously at the lake, like he was mad at it. Finally, the man got very annoyed with his dog for barking so much and he scolded it.

" _Bad dog! Stop barking at the water. It's only water!_ " To his surprise, the dog looked right at him and began to talk.

" _One day soon, the storms will come. The waters will rise and everyone will drown. You can save yourself and your family by building a raft, but first you will need to sacrifice me. You must throw me in the water._ " He thought the dog was lying, once he got over his shock at the dog talking, that is. When he protested, the dog said, " _If you don't believe me, look at the scruff of my neck. I am already dead._ " The man grabbed the dog by the scruff of its neck and saw that its skin and fur were already coming apart. Underneath was nothing but bones. The dog was a skeleton dog.

So with tears in his eyes, the man said goodbye to his annoying skeleton dog and tossed it into the water, where it promptly sank. The man built a raft, and when the flood came, he and his family survived. Without the dog. When the rains subsided, and the raft landed, the man and his family were the only ones alive. The man heard sounds from the other side of a hill - like thousands of people laughing and dancing - but when he raced to the top, alas, down below he saw nothing except bones littering the ground - thousands of skeletons of all the people who died in the flood. He realized the ghosts of the dead had been dancing. That was the sound he heard. There was no explanation to why they had been dancing. Maybe they were happy that one family survived. Maybe they were enjoying the afterlife. Maybe they had another reason hidden beneath that only they would understand.

Zy once had me play Final Fantasy X, and a scholar in the game told a story that came to my mind when I heard Zy's explanation of the flood. Long ago, there was a war between one city reliant on summons, faith, and magic, while the other was reliant on powerful machines. In the end, the first city didn't stand a chance against the powerful machines of the second. It was said that when the war was over, people from the machine city heard a song, a hymn calling out from the dead of the battlefield from their former opponents.

The people who had survived the war came together and summoned an enormous monster, one that destroyed the machine city with ease, terrorizing them as a kind of reprisal for having such power within their grasp. Those that survived vowed never to use weaponized machines again, but they took advantage of the situation and claimed that the monster was punishment to anyone who grew too powerful. In turn, they were able to make the population reliant on a certain government sect, as they were all afraid of the monster. They boasted about how they knew a way to kill the beast, and that only those that kept faith in them would be able to survive, even though the monster was able to revive itself even when defeated, and it only grew more powerful with time.

Those that opposed the group were thrown out as heathens, the population afraid of the summon that had destroyed the powerful machine city. And so those that opposed the new government, seeing that they made false and unreliable claims to control the population, began to sing the hymn that had once been sung by the fallen in defiance. The hymn that was sung by those who had summoned the monstrosity that terrorized the population, a song of the dead, a song of defiance, almost like a last laugh.

Eventually, so many people began to sing the hymn in defiance, that the government had no choice but to lift the ban they had on the song and claim that it was the song sung to soothe the souls of the dead. In the end, they may not have been wrong. The song was sung by souls of the dead that had their revenge, that had the last laugh. But sustaining the summon, allowing it to come back again and again, made it so that those souls couldn't move on to the next life. They couldn't stop the summon unless someone killed the one man that sustained it perpetually, remaking it every time someone defeated it. Those people gave their souls willingly when they were alive, offering to be the battery that sustained the summon, but now that their revenge had been dealt, they were trapped.

I wonder. Did the souls that were trapped between life and death sing that song to ease the pain of their possible eternity of unrest?

Now, in the nymphaeum in Rome, as the dark water rose, I questioned why the story of the flood had been important for us now. Here, a raft would do us no good. Personally, I feared we were more like the skeleton dog. We were already dead.

* * *

The basin filled with alarming speed. All of us rushed around, pounding on the walls, looking for an exit, but there was nothing. We climbed into the alcoves to gain some height, but with water pouring out of each niche, it was like trying to balance at the edge of a waterfall. Even as we stood in some of the niches, the water was soon up to our knees. From the floor, it was probably eight feet deep and rising fast.

"I could try lightning," Jason suggested. "Maybe blast a hole in the roof?"

"That could bring down the whole room and crush us," Piper said.

"Or electrocute us," Percy added.

"Well we don't have a lot of options here!" I shouted urgently. "The water's not bending to my will, and we're not gonna last long at this rate!"

"Audrey, let's search the bottom," Percy suggested. "If this place was built as a fountain, there  _has_  to be a way to drain the thing. You guys, check the niches for secret exits. Maybe the seashells are knobs or something. This place can't be completely water-proof after all these years for them to wither away. There's got to be some way to drain it." It was a desperate idea, but Piper and Jason got to work.

Percy jumped into the water, and I braced myself before I followed him. All of this water felt so heavy, unclean, icky. It wasn't water, I knew that much, and diving head first into it was like throwing a claustrophobic person in a closet. It made me nearly panic as the water seemed to try and suck the life out of me. I managed to keep my power inside of me and keep it from escaping as I dived down after Percy. The black water was extremely hard to see in, but there are parts of the ocean that never see the light of the sun, and so my eyes adjusted eventually. When they did, I caught up to Percy, who suddenly froze in his attempts to search for a drain when he realized he couldn't breathe. I turned my hand to water and put it to my mouth and nose. The black water seemed to want to disperse my pure water hand, but I managed to keep it together and use it like a re-breather. Percy was frantically swimming for the surface, his lungs crying for oxygen, and I hurried over to put my other hand around the lower half of his face and turn it to water. He gasped for breath, and I dragged him the rest of the way to the surface.

"Couldn't breathe," He choked as I returned my hands to normal and hauled him to Jason and Piper. "The water…not normal. Hardly made it back. Thanks Dray." The life force of the nymphs, I guessed. It was so poisoned and malicious, even children of the sea god couldn't control it. As the water rose, I felt waves of fatigue hitting me as though I'd just run for miles, and my hands turned wrinkled and dry despite being in the middle of a fountain. Everyone else was moving sluggishly as well. Jason's face was pale, and he seemed to be having trouble holding on to his sword. Percy and I were drenched and shivering. I noticed that Percy's hair didn't looked quite so dark, as if the color was leaching out.

"They're taking our power," Piper said. "Draining us."

"Jason, do the lightning," I ordered. Jason raised his sword. The room rumbled, but no lightning appeared, and the roof didn't break. Instead, a miniature rainstorm formed at the top of the chamber. Rain poured down, filling the fountain even faster, but it wasn't normal rain. The stuff was just as dark as the water in the pool, and every drop stung my skin.

"Not what I wanted," Jason muttered. The water was up to our necks now. I could feel the water trying to steal my energy. I was beginning to feel lightheaded, as though I'd just run a marathon, or went through two hours of gym class. I felt like passing out, but I forced myself to keep going.

"We'll survive," Piper murmured to herself. We were going to have to swim soon, and this water was already draining us, possibly paralyzing us. Percy starting pushing the water away with the pack of his hand, like was shooing a bad dog.

"Can't…can't control…"

"Same here! We're powerless with this water!" I grabbed my water bottle at my hip, pulled it above the dark water and flicked the cap, unscrewing it in one swift motion (as it had been specifically designed to be accessible with only one hand in case of emergencies) and released a couple gallons of water into the air. It looked puny compared to the water now filling the fifty-foot-tall room, but it would have to do. The rain was clearly trying to disperse and destroy the water, but I managed to hold it together. I held it above our head to block the rain from above like an umbrella, sending down tentacles of water through the black water to grab and keep us afloat.

"We can't fight this," Piper said, clutching her cornucopia. "If we hold back, that just makes us weaker."

"What do you mean?!" Jason shouted over the rain. Though we were now floating, no longer able to reach the bottom of the fountain, the water wasn't even halfway to the ceiling yet, meaning we had time.

" _You will need to sacrifice me,_ " The skeleton dog had said in the story. " _You must throw me into the water._ "

"The horn of plenty," Piper said. "We have to overwhelm the nymphs with  _fresh_  water, give them more than they can use. If we can dilute this poisonous stuff-"

"Your horn can do that?" Percy asked. He looked terrified, though considering he was so used to never having to worry about drowning, it was understandable. Back at Camp Half-Blood, Zy had worked on my ability to hold my breath, my swimming, and my ability in the water without my power. Though I was severely limited compared to normal, she had trained me up to be professional when on my own. Swimming wasn't much of a problem for me, but keeping your head above water while also focusing to make sure the water umbrella above us wasn't destroyed by the dark water and also having all of us rise to keep up with the water level took a bit of concentration, I'll admit. The water was definitely sucking the energy and power out of us, but I was able to push away the effects and keep as much as I could to protect the others.

"She's right," I said. "The horn works by reflecting emotions. These nymphs have been poisoned over the years of despair and anger. We just need to revive them with fresh water, clean this stuff out. Channel everything we have into the cornucopia. Percy, think about the sea."

"Salt water?" He asked.

"Doesn't matter. As long as it's clean. Jason, think about rainstorms -  _much_  more rain. Everyone, grab the cornucopia. Emotions are everything here, people. The stronger the emotions, the stronger the horn will be. Damn, if Emily was ever needed in a situation, now would've been great. Thanks Fates. You're really making life crappy." I remembered that Zy was the one who ordered Emily to go with Leo's team, but meh. I pulled us all together with my water and then had it surround us like a dome to hopefully block out the distraction of the black rain. My water wasn't able to make a full sphere around us thanks to the black stuff, and so my legs were beginning to feel like lead as my strength was leaving slowly but surely. My water was losing strength in turn, unable to support us, weakening by the second, and the situation was only getting worse, as the distractions weren't helping in filling the cornucopia with good thoughts.

"No good!" Jason yelled, spitting water.

"We're getting nowhere," Percy agreed.

"We have to work together!" Piper cried.

"We don't have any other ideas!" I agreed. "Concentrate. Block out everything else! Focus on every good moment you've had in your life. Pour your emotions into this!"

"Think of a clean water - a storm of water," Piper suggested. "Don't hold anything back. Picture all your power, all your strength leaving you."

"That's not hard!" Percy said.

"She means you have to  _force_  it out!" I shouted. "Offer up everything, like - like you're already dead, and your only goal is to help the nymphs."

"It's got to be a gift…a sacrifice," Piper continued in almost a whisper. With that, the boys froze and were quiet.

"Let's try again," Jason said. "Together." I closed my eyes, blocking out the fatigue of holding my water bubble up and keeping the others aloft. I tried to make it easier for them to block out everything but their thoughts as well, and felt power flowing into the cornucopia. I concentrated on giving all my power to the cornucopia. These nymphs wanted my water, my youth, my life, and possibly my siren voice? Sure, fine. Take it. I gave it willingly to them, and I imagined all my power flowing out of me.

" _I am already dead,_ " I thought, as calm as the skeleton dog. " _This is the only way._ " Clear water blasted from the horn with such force that our group was pushed against the wall. The rain changed to a white torrent, much cleaner and colder than I had expected. I had no choice but to drop my water bubble to release the water properly. The water felt like a breath of fresh air as I could suddenly react with it, unlike the dark water from the nymphs.

"It's working!" Jason cried.

"Too well," Percy said. "We're filling the room even faster!" He was right. The water rose so quickly, the roof was now only a few feet away. We could've reached up and touched the miniature rain clouds.

"We can't stop!" I shouted. "We have to dilute the poison until the nymphs are cleansed!"

"What if they  _can't_  be cleansed?" Jason asked. "They've been down here turning evil for thousands of years."

"If they can't be cleansed, we die! There's nothing left to lose, Jason! Just don't hold back. Give everything. Even if we go under-" My head hit the ceiling, and the rainclouds dissipated and melted into the water. The horn of plenty continued blasting out a clean torrent. I transformed fully into water, now with less risk of being destroyed by the dark nymph water with Piper's fresh stream taking over, and used myself and my water to create breathable water for Jason and Piper. Piper kissed Jason and told him she loved him just before we all went under. The current of water pushed and pulled, the current roaring around us, bubbles swirling around us. Light still rippled through the room, and I  _knew_  the water had to be getting clearer.

Water continued to stream out of the horn, and I was losing the power to sustain Piper and Jason with my already weakened state. Still, I felt the four of us pushing everything we had into the cornucopia, and I began to feel lightheaded - if I had a head at the moment, that is. I wondered what would happen if I died while in water form. Would my water reform, or would I just transform into regular water while my soul went to Hades? Both understandable possibilities. There was no more room for water anymore, but the horn continued. Would the walls crack under the pressure?

For a moment, my vision went black. I'm not sure if I really blacked out, one of those things where you can't tell if you fell asleep and yet the clock says you were out for an hour. I swear I heard the roaring of the water, but in the chaos and my half-conscious state, I couldn't tell if it was all in my head or not. Then, the room began shaking, the water swirled faster, and I felt as we began sinking. My limbs burned from fatigue, but I willed the water around us to shoot us to the surface in one final burst.

Piper broke the surface first, and I quickly followed. I grabbed Percy and hoisted him up. Instantly, Percy gulped and began to thrash, but Jason was still under, lifeless as a rag doll. Piper and I hauled him up so he could breathe too as the water in the room drained almost as fast as it had filled the room, the cornucopia having stopped. Piper clung to him, yelled his name, shook him, and slapped his face. She barely noticed when all the water had drained away and left us on the damp floor. Luckily, some of the water had gotten into my bottle, and I had been vertical when we'd reached the ground, and so it was filled to the brim.

"Jason!" Piper tried desperately.

"Piper, I can help," Percy said. He knelt next to her and touched Jason's forehead. Water gushed from Jason's mouth, and I tugged the rest of it out, causing the water to spurt out like a fountain (looked kinda gross, but hey, we were saving someone's life here). Jason's eyes flew open, and I threw up a water barrier before a clap of thunder threw Percy and Piper backwards in an explosion of my quickly-made shield.

"Sorry," Jason coughed. I wasn't a doctor, but I'd spent enough time in the infirmary helping out Zy to know color was returning to his face and his lungs and oxygen seemed to be normalizing; i.e.: No permanent damage to his lungs or his brain from oxygen deprivation. He'd be good. "Didn't mean to-" Piper tackled him with a hug. She probably would've kissed him, but didn't want to suffocate him.

"Dude, I've face enough lightning bolts in my life - having a best friend that shoots them constantly - to know it was coming." Percy grinned.

"In case you were wondering, that was clean water in your lungs. We could make it come out with no problem." I fell and laid on my back with a heavy sigh.

"Well, that was exhausting."

"Well you and Piper saved us," Jason said.

" _Yes, they did,_ " A voice echoed through the chamber. The niches glowed, and nine figures appeared, but they were no longer withered creatures. They were young, beautiful nymphs in shimmering blue gowns, their glossy black curls pinned up with silver and gold brooches, their eyes gentle shades of blue and green. As we watched, eight of the nine nymphs dissolved into vapor and floated upward. Only the nymph in the center remained.

"Hagno?" Piper asked. The nymph smiled.

"Yes, my dear. I didn't think such selflessness existed in mortals…especially in demigods. No offense." Percy got to his feet.

"How could we take offense? You just tried to drown us and take our lives." I stood and elbowed him.

"Not everyone's as selfless as us, sure, but there are some. Don't be surprised when you find selflessness can be scarce, but also don't believe that there aren't the occasional exceptions. It's understandable to believe that people can be selfish, but things have changed."

"I'm sorry. I was not myself before. But you have reminded me of the sun and the rain and the streams in the meadows. Percy, Audrey, Jason. Thanks to you, I remembered the sea and the sky. I am cleansed. But mostly, thanks to Piper. She shared something even better than clear running water." Hagno turned to her. "You have a good nature, Piper. And I'm a nature spirit. I know what I'm talking about." Hagno pointed to the other side of the room. The stairs to the surface reappeared. Directly underneath, a circular opening shimmered into existence, like a sewer pipe, just big enough to crawl through. I suspected that was how the water had drained out.

"You may return to the surface," Hagno said. "Or, if you insist, you may follow the waterway to the giants. But choose quickly, because both doors will fade soon after I am gone. That pipe connects to the old aqueduct line, which feeds both this nymphaeum and the hypogeum that the giants call home."

"Ugh," Percy muttered, pressing on his temples. "Please, no more complicated words."

"Oh,  _home_  is not a complicated word," Hagno said, sounding completely sincere. "I thought it was, but now you have unbound us from this place. My sisters have gone to seek new homes…a mountain stream, perhaps, or a lake in a meadow. I will follow them. I cannot wait to see the forests and grasslands again, and the clear running water."

"Uh," Percy said nervously. "Things have changed up above in the last few thousand years."

"I mean, nature is still there, but there are a lot more cities and people," I added.

"Nonsense," Hagno said. "How bad could it be? Pan would not allow nature to become tainted. I can't wait to see him, in fact." Percy looked like he wanted to say something, but stopped himself.

"Good luck, Hagno," Piper said. "And thank you." The nymph smiled one last time and vaporized. Briefly, the nymphaeum glowed with a softer light, like a full moon. I smelled exotic spices and blooming roses, and I heard distant music and happy voices talking and laughing. I guessed we were hearing hundreds of years of parties and celebrations that had been held at this shrine in ancient times, as if the memories had been freed along with the spirits. There was a hum flowing through the air as well, almost as if the stones themselves were singing. Maybe this was a signal of sorts that this place was no longer the prison of the nymphs, that it would no longer be a place harboring hatred and pain.

"What is that?" Jason asked nervously.

"The ghosts are dancing/singing," Piper and I said respectively.

"Come on," Piper said. "We'd better go meet the giants."


	37. Meeting the Twins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to have to start *gasp* editing! This is seriously going to take time, but I'm running out of room for the documents, with two stories going on at once and my non-stop writing.
> 
> So much to do, so little time, and space.
> 
> Review! Tell me, do you like it? Do you not? If you don't, why are you reading this?

First Person: Audrey

Never thought I'd say this, but I am tired of water. If I said it aloud, I would probably get kicked out of Poseidon's Junior Sea Scouts, but I didn't care. I felt like my soul had been sucked out, trying to use my powers while having them leeched away with evil water I couldn't breathe in or control. Not to mention swimming like a normal person is tiring. And don't get me started on the cornucopia act. I'm done! I'm just done. I want a nap. Is that too much to ask?

After that nymphaeum, I just wanted to go back to the surface, be dry, and sit in the sun with the weight of the world  _not_  on my shoulders. If we needed any more encouragement to hurry up and save Rome, stop Gaea from waking and taking over the world, and win this war and whatnot, there it was. Of course, we had to move forward for now, rescue Veon, Zy and Nico, hope that Leo, Hazel, Emily and Frank were okay, hope that Kaze's still on our side and just bluffing for time, and Annabeth. Just Annabeth. UGH! Why did Rome have to go and suddenly make the world a million times more complicated?!

Let's see, is that everyone? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…and the four of us made ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen (and Hedge, I guess, makes fourteen). Yep, that's everyone. Unless I'm forgetting someone.

Seriously, these monsters and gods were thousands of years old. Couldn't they take a few decades off? I mean, I haven't even been at this for a long time, but apparently Percy and those at Camp Half-Blood had a war  _before_  this with Kronos. These guys are all coming out at the same time, like "How about I make their lives terrible for this many years, and if that fails, it's your shift." Welcome to the  _Let's Make the Demigods Suffer_  Show!

Percy took the lead as we crawled down the drainage pipe. After thirty feet, it opened into a wider tunnel. To the left, somewhere in the distance, I heard rumbling and creaking, like a huge machine needed oiling. I had no desire to find out what was making that sound, and neither did the others, apparently, so we figured that must be the way to go. Several hundred feet later, we reached a turn in the tunnel. Percy held up his hand, signaling for us to wait, before peeking around the corner. I snuck a peek as well, though I'm not exactly sure whether it was good or bad news.

The corridor opened into a vast room with twenty-foot ceilings and rows of support columns. It looked like the same parking-garage-type area that Percy and I had seen in our dreams, but now much more crowded with stuff. The creaking and rumbling came from huge gears and pulley systems that raised and lowered sections of the floor for no apparent reason. Water flowed through open trenches (great, more water) powering waterwheels that turned some of the machines. Other machines were connected to huge hamster wheels with hellhounds inside. I couldn't help but think of Mrs. O'Leary, and how much she would hate being trapped inside one of those. Suspended from the ceiling were cages of living animals - a lion, several zebras, a whole pack of hyenas, and even an eight-headed hydra. Ancient-looking bronze and leather conveyor belts trundled along with stacks of weapons and armor, sort of like the Amazons' warehouse in Seattle, except this place was obviously much older and not as well organized. Leo would love this place. The whole room was like one massive, scary, unreliable machine.

"What is it?" Piper whispered. Neither of us were really sure how to answer, but we didn't see the giants, so Percy gestured for us to come forward and take a look. About twenty feet inside the doorway, a life-sized wooden cutout of a gladiator popped up from the floor. It clicked and whirred along a conveyor belt, got hooked on a rope, and ascended through a slot in the roof.

"Okaaaaay," I muttered.

"What the heck?" Jason agreed. We stepped inside and scanned the room. There were several thousand things to look at, most of them in motion, but one good aspect of being an ADHD demigod was that we were comfortable with chaos. I wasn't major ADHD, and I suffered more from dyslexia, even if I did manage to get the hang of it eventually, but it was there when I needed it, such as now. About a hundred yards away, I spotted a raised dais with two empty oversized praetor chairs. Standing between them was a bronze jar big enough to hold a few people.

"Look," Percy said pointing, having noticed it as well.

"That's too easy," Piper said frowning.

"Of course," I agreed.

"But we've got no choice," Jason said. "We've got to save them."

"Yeah." Percy started across the room, picking his way around conveyor belts and moving platforms. The hellhounds in the hamster wheels paid us no attention. They were too busy running and panting, their red eyes glowing like headlights. The animals in the other cages looked bored, as if to say, " _I'd kill you, but it would take too much energy._ " I felt bad for the creatures, and hoped we might be able to free them eventually.

Percy tried to watch out for traps, but  _everything_  here looked like a trap. I was reminded of that story of the labyrinth that Percy had to go through (and nearly died in, but what else is new?) a while back. Hazel might've been good to bring, since she could've helped with her underground skills (and, of course, so she could be reunited with her brothers). I just transformed into water and made my way forward easily, as well as making sure that I wasn't a part of the group and could bail them out at any time.

They jumped over a water trench and ducked under a row of cages. They had made it about halfway to the bronze jar when the ceiling opened over them. A platform lowered, and standing on it like an actor, with one hand raised and his head high, was the purple-haired giant Ephialtes. Just like in my dreams, the Big F was small by giant standards - about twelve feet tall - but he had tried to make up for it with his loud outfit. He'd changed out of the gladiator armor and was now wearing a Hawaiian shirt that even Dionysus would've found vulgar. It had a garish print made up of dying heroes, horrible tortures, and lions eating slaves in the Colosseum. The giant's hair was braided with gold and silver coins. He had a ten-foot spear strapped to his back, which wasn't a good fashion statement with the shirt. He wore bright white jeans and leather sandals on his…well, not feet, but curved snakeheads. The snakes flicked their tongues and writhed as if they didn't appreciate holding up the weight of a giant. Ephialtes smiled at the three of them like he was really, really pleased to see them.

"At last!" He bellowed. "So very happy! Honestly, I didn't think you'd make it past the nymphs, but it's so much better that you did. Much more entertaining. You're just in time for the main event." Out of the hole in the ceiling where Ephialtes had come from, Kaze suddenly jumped down, hitting the ground with an echoing thud beside the giant, his shuriken drawn and held like a backhand sword. He stood straight and walked forward, prepared for a fight. It was seeming less likely, just by looking at his face, that he was only here to buy us time. But benefit of the doubt, I suppose. He could just be a really good actor, and was waiting for Otis to get out here and the fighting to start before he switched sides. He would only get one chance to surprise the giants, in the end, and he wasn't going to waste it. Plus, his sister was still in the jar.

Jason and Piper closed ranks on either side of Percy, but I stayed water, sinking into the floor to try and make my way over to the jar.

"We're here," Percy said, which sounded kind of obvious one he had said it. "Let our friends go."

"Of course!" Ephialtes said. "Though I fear he's a bit past his expiration date. Otis, where are you?" A stone's throw away, the floor opened, and the other giant rose on a platform. "Otis, finally!" His brother cried with glee. "You're not dressed the same as me! You're…" Ephialtes's expression turned to horror. " _What are you wearing?!_ "

Otis looked like the world's largest, grumpiest ballet dancer. He wore a skin-tight baby-blue leotard that I  _really_  wished left more to the imagination. The toes of his massive dancing slippers were cut away so that his snakes could protrude. A diamond tiara (I decided to be generous and think of it as a king's crown) was nestled in his green, firecracker-braided hair. He looked glum and miserably uncomfortable, but he managed a dancer's bow, which couldn't have been easy with snake feet and a huge spear on his back.

"Gods and Titans!" Ephialtes yelled. "It's showtime! What are you  _thinking?!_ "

"I didn't want to wear the gladiator outfit," Otis complained. "I still think a ballet would be perfect, you know, while Armageddon is going on." He raised his eyebrows hopefully at the demigods. "I have some extra costumes-"

"No!" Ephialtes snapped, and for once, I think we were all in agreement. The purple-haired giant faced Percy, grinning so painfully, he looked like he was being electrocuted. "Please excuse my brother. His stage presence is awful, and he has  _no_  sense of style."

" _Watashi wa nani ga okotte iru no ka wakaranai,_ " Kaze muttered, having a baffled look on his face.

"Okaaaaay," Percy muttered, deciding not to comment on the Hawaiian shirt. "Now, about our friends…"

"Oh, him," Ephialtes sneered. "We were going to let him finish dying in public, but he has no entertainment value. He's spent  _days_  curled up sleeping. What sort of spectacle is that? Otis, tip over the jar." Otis trudged over to the dais, stopping occasionally to do a plié. He knocked over the jar, the lid popped off, and the three demigods spilled out. Nico was definitely and understandably the worst out of the three, his face deathly pale and his frame too skinny. It was hard to tell whether he was alive or not, and though I could tell Percy wanted to rush over and help them, Ephialtes stood in his way. Speaking of which, the giant looked baffled at the sight.

"Huh? Were there always three of them in there? They're multiplying. That might be a good trick."

"Ugh, that was  _not_  fun…" Zy muttered, still coughing. She was the only of the three that seemed to be conscious. "I have a newly founded hatred for jars."

" _Ones…_ " Kaze began, but cut himself off. He looked shocked at seeing his sister emerging from the jar. So, wait. He  _didn't_  know his sister was there. She wasn't a hostage forcing him to comply?

"Well, this is unexpected, but I suppose we can improvise," Ephialtes said. "Now, we have to hurry. We should go through your stage directions. The hypogeum is all set!" With Veon and Nico still unconscious, and Zy clearly in no state to defend them should a fight start, we were forced to play along for now. I tried inching my way closer, looking just like a stray stream of water flowing across the ground. I hoped that I wasn't too noticeable, but it's one of those things when you don't want to be seen that you feel the most exposed. I just hoped that the others could buy us enough recovery time. Jason raised his gladius.

"We're not going to be part of any show. And what's a hypo…whatever-you-call-it?"

"Hypogeum!" Ephialtes said. "You're a Roman demigod, aren't you? You should know! Ah, but I suppose if we do our jobs right down here in the underworks, you really wouldn't know the hypogeum exists."

"I know that word," Piper said. "It's the area under a coliseum. It housed all the set pieces and machinery used to create special effects." Ephialtes clapped enthusiastically.

"Exactly so! Are you a student of the theater, my girl?"

"Uh…my dad's an actor."

"Wonderful!" Ephialtes turned toward his brother. "Did you hear that, Otis?"

"Actor," Otis murmured. "Everybody's an actor. No one can dance."

"Be nice!" Ephialtes scolded. "At any rate, my girl, you're absolutely right, but  _this_  hypogeum is much more than the stageworks for a coliseum. You've heard that in the old days some giants were imprisoned under the earth, and from time to time they would cause earthquakes when they tried to break free? Well, we've done much better! Otis and I have been imprisoned under Rome for eons, but we've kept busy building our very own hypogeum. Now we're ready to create the greatest spectacle Rome has ever seen - and the last!" At Otis's feet, Nico shuddered. Veon's hand started moving towards Nico's and a painstakingly slow rate, but he was trying to make sure he seemed unconscious, as Otis was still standing right beside them. I doubted Veon had the ability to shadow travel in his state, but if he had a plan, I hoped it would go all right. Zy was having a standoff - or  _stare_ off, rather - with Kaze. I'm not sure what that kid's angle was anymore, but as he wasn't acting, I had to assume he was in indecision about what he wanted and what side he was on. He hadn't known his sister what in the jar, and so he was here to fight us of his own accord. But now he knows that Gaea and the giants had imprisoned his sister without telling him.

"So!" Percy said, hoping to keep the giants' attention on him. "Stage directions, you said?"

"Yes!" Ephialtes said. "Now, I  _know_  the bounty stipulates that you and the girl Annabeth should be kept alive if possible, but honestly, the girl is already doomed, so I hope you don't mind if we deviate from the plan." Percy swallowed, looking like his mouth tasted like bad nymph water.

"Already doomed. You don't mean she's…?"

"Dead?" The giant asked. "No. Not yet. But don't worry! We've got your other friends locked up, you see." Piper made a strangled sound.

"Leo and Emily? Hazel and Frank?"

"Those are the ones," Ephialtes agreed. "So we can use  _them_  for the sacrifice. We can let the Athena girl die, which will please Her Ladyship. And we can use you three for the show! Gaea will be a bit disappointed, but really, this is a win-win. Your deaths will be  _much_  more entertaining."

"Great," Percy muttered. "I was worried my death was gonna be dull." Jason snarled.

"You want entertaining? I'll give you entertaining." Piper stepped forward. Somehow she managed to keep a sweet smile.

"I've got a better idea," She told the giants. "Why don't you let us go? That would be an incredible twist. Wonderful entertainment value, and it would prove to the world how cool you are." Nico stirred, unaware of Otis's close proximity, and Veon quickly snatched his hand, trying to give him the message to play unconscious until Otis was out of range. Otis looked down at the pair, his snaky feet flicking their tongues at Nico's head. Zy looked down and hissed at the snakes to back off, but then quickly moved her eyes back to Kaze.

"Plus!" Piper said quickly. "Plus, we could do some dance moves as we're escaping. Perhaps a ballet number!" Otis forgot all about the sons of Hades. He lumbered over and wagged his finger at Ephialtes.

"You see? That's what I was telling you! It would be incredible!" For a moment, I thought that Piper was going to pull it off. Otis looked at his brother imploringly, and Ephialtes tugged at his chin as if considering the idea. At last, he shook his head.

"No…no, I'm afraid not. You see, my girl, I am the anti-Dionysus. I have a reputation to uphold. Dionysus things he knows parties? He's wrong! His revels are tame compared to what I can do. That old stunt we pulled, for instance, when we piled up mountains to reach Olympus-"

"I told you that would never work," Otis muttered.

"And the time my brother covered himself with meat and ran through an obstacle course of drakons-"

"You said Hephaestus-TV would show it during prime time. No one even  _saw_  me."

"Well this spectacle will be  _even better_ ," Ephialtes promised. "The Romans always wanted bread and circuses - food and entertainment! As we destroy their city, I will offer them both. Behold, a sample!" Something dropped from the ceiling and landed at Percy's feet: a loaf of sandwich bread in white plastic wrapper with red and yellow dots. Percy picked it up in confusion.

"Wonder bread?"

"Magnificent, isn't it?" Ephialtes asked, his eyes dancing with crazy excitement. "You can keep that loaf. I plan on distributing millions to the people of Rome as I obliterate them."

"Where the heck would you get all that bread?" Zy asked.

" _Fushigi no pan?_ " Kaze asked with a " _WTF?_ " look on his face. He rolled his eyes with the clear message:  _This is_  seriously _who I have to work with_.

"Wonder bread is good," Otis admitted. "Though the Romans should dance for it." I finally made it over to Nico and Veon.

"Ve," I whispered. "You okay?"

"I want a nap," He whispered back to me.

"You think you can get Nico out of the way before the fighting starts?"

"Don't know. I'll try. He's waking up, but he's much worse off than me. I'm trying to give him energy, and that's probably the only reason he's as awake as he is now. We're gonna need more time though. How the heck did Kaze get here, anyway? I've heard his voice. Did he come with you?"

"No. He was already here with the giants, and he looks ready to fight us."

"What? I heard he and Zy had a fight, and that he was somewhat loyal to Gaea, but to fight us? Did he know Zy was in the jar? Was that why?"

"No. He looked surprised to see her in there."

"I mean, we  _did_  shadow travel in, so there was no way for him to know unless Gaea told him. But that means he came here on his own, willingly, to try and prevent Nico's rescue. Zy told me their argument was about Kaze saying we should try and see it from Gaea's perspective, but I don't think Kaze's a bad kid. I think he's just been misled."

"Well either way, I think he looks fully ready to fight even Zy."

"Great. As if two giants weren't bad enough, now we've got to fight a supersonic, shuriken-throwing, master inventor."

"What did you do to beat him before?"

"Caught him in a vat of tar, but I don't think he's gonna fall for that twice."

"All we can do is try. Do you think you're in good enough shape for a fight?"

"Maybe. Nico comes first though."

"Agreed. We'll buy you the time you need to get him to safety."

"Maybe you should bring our other friends here," Percy ventured. "You know, spectacular deaths…the more the merrier, right?"

"Hmm." Ephialtes fiddled with a button on his Hawaiian shirt. "No. It's really too late to change the choreography. But never fear. The circus will be marvelous! Ah…not the  _modern_  sort of circus, mind you. That would require clowns, and I hate clowns."

"Everyone hates clowns," Otis said. "Even other clowns hate clowns."

"Exactly," His brother agreed. "But we have much better entertainment planned! The three of you will die in agony, up above, where all the gods and mortals can watch. But that's just the opening ceremony! In the old days, games went on for days or weeks. Our spectacle - the destruction of Rome - will go on for one full month until Gaea awakens."

"Wait," Jason said. "One month, and Gaea wakes up?" Ephialtes waved away the question.

"Yes, yes. Something about August First being the best date to destroy all humanity. Not important! In her infinite wisdom, the Earth Mother has agreed that Rome can be destroyed first, slowly and spectacularly. It's only fitting!"

"So…" Percy said. It was kinda funny that we were talking about the end of the world with a loaf of Wonder bread in his hand. "You're Gaea's warm up act." Ephialtes's face darkened.

"This is no warm-up, demigod! We'll release wild animals and monsters into the streets, our special effects department will produce fires and earthquakes, sinkholes and volcanoes will appear randomly out of nowhere, ghosts will run rampant!"

"The ghost thing won't work," Otis said. "Our focus groups say it won't pull ratings."

"Doubters!" Ephialtes said. "This hypogeum can make anything work!" Ephialtes stormed over to a big table covered with a sheet. He pulled the sheet away, revealing a collection of levers and knobs almost as complicated-looking as Leo's control panel on the Argo II.

"This button?" Ephialtes said. "This one will eject a dozen rabid wolves into the Forum. And this one will summon automaton gladiators to battle tourists at the Trevi Fountain. This one will cause the Tiber to flood its banks so we can reenact a naval battle right in the Piazza Navona! Percy Jackson, you should appreciate that, as a son of Poseidon!"

"Uh, I'm not sure what Tiberinus would have to say about that last one," Zy muttered. "Hope you asked permission first."

"You, daughter of Zenobia, shall be taken along with the rest of your team for a grand spectacle. I hear you and your friends have the ability to put on a spectacular climax."

"Yeah, yeah, it's been established."

"Uh…I still think the  _letting us go_  idea is better," Percy said.

"He's right," Piper tried again. "Otherwise we get into this whole confrontation thing. We fight you, you fight us, we wreck your plans. You know, we've defeated a lot of giants lately. I'd hate for things to get out of control." Ephialtes nodded thoughtfully.

"You're right." Piper blinked.

"I am?"

"We can't let things get out of control," The giant agreed. "Everything has to be timed perfectly. But don't worry. I've choreographed your deaths. You'll  _love_  it." Nico was able to start crawling away, if with a bit of groaning, with Veon pulling him forward.

"Nico, move faster, groan less," I ordered. Now I wish I had some Wonder bread to throw at him. Jason switched his sword hand.

"And if we refuse to cooperate with your spectacle?"

"Well you can't kill us," Ephialtes laughed, as if the idea was ridiculous. "You have no gods with you, and that's the only way you could hope to triumph. So really, it would be much more sensible to die painfully. Sorry, but the show must go on." Man, this giant was worse than that sea god Phorcys back in Atlanta. Ephialtes was one of those giants that wasn't so much the exact opposite of his respective god, as he was Dionysus gone crazy on steroids. Well, crazi _er_ , I suppose. Sure, Dionysus was the god of revelry and out-of-control parties, but Ephialtes was all about riot and ruin for pleasure.

"I'm getting tired of this guy's shirt," Percy said to his friends.

"Combat time?" Piper asked, grabbing her horn of plenty.

"I hate Wonder bread," Jason declared.

"I'm partially indifferent," Zy admitted, grabbing one of her guns and loading a new magazine. She'd readjusted her bow on the back of her belt so that the bowstring wasn't slung across her body, therefore allowing her more mobility and easier access when she wished to draw it. She was prepared for a fight, and the look on her face worried me. She was still staring her brother dead in the eye, and if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that she wasn't going to hesitate when the inevitable fight ensued. Kaze had a similar callous tone, and I knew those two weren't going to hold back any just because of their relationship. What the hell had happened, anyway?

Well, I suppose if Zy had Kaze handled, and Veon had Nico, then I could join the others in the fight against the twins. Ephialtes did have a point, and without a god on our side, we wouldn't be able to defeat them. Not to mention the fact that this entire place had to be prepared for our fight, making it so that the terrain was in their favor, not ours. Still, there was only one way to move forward.

"Let's go then!" Zy shouted. With that, the battle began.


	38. The Twins Ephialtes and Otis (Also Kaze)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aren't battle scenes just fun? Lots of editing still to be done, but I'm just too lazy to do it with like, five other stories that I'm focusing on (two of which are on Fiction Press). So yeah, super busy, and school sucks, so it's not exactly making this process any easier. *Sighs* but it never is, is it?
> 
> Review? Maybe? Pretty please?
> 
> Also enjoy, course. :)

First Person: Lucy

Things went wrong almost immediately. The giants vanished in twin puffs of smoke. They reappeared halfway across the room, each in a different spot. Percy sprinted towards Ephialtes, but slots in the floor opened under his feet, and metal walls shot up on either side, separating him from the rest of us, and the walls started closing in on him like the sides of a vise grip. I leaped over to stand on one of the walls, swinging my hand out to have a green whip launch out and wrap around his waist before hauling him out just before they closed in and crushed him.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet, water boy." To prove my point, Kaze's shuriken went flying past, and I pushed Percy out of the way just in time. He lost his balance on the metal wall and ended up flailing to grab onto the bottom of the hydra's cage. It wasn't exactly safe and sound, but it was gonna have to be enough as Kaze came rushing up for the attack, and there was no way I could assist Percy at the moment.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jason charging at Otis - who pulled his spear and heaved a great sigh, as if he would much rather dance  _Swan Lake_  than kill another demigod - and Piper leaping across a hopscotch pattern of fiery pits, making her way toward Nico and Veon, the former of which being weaponless, both being dazed to a certain extent and being stalked by a group of leopards. I wanted nothing more than to hurry over and defend them, but right now, Kaze was right in front of me, and though I could hold my ground during training when he didn't want to do actual harm, he was significantly faster than me (obviously), even with my power boost.

Funny story: whenever my life is in serious danger and I'm on the verge of death, I get a significant power boost. It's because of my mother, or so I've been led to believe. It's her thing, like Zeus is lord of the skies, Poseidon the seas, Hades the Underworld, etc. She's the goddess of limit breaks, basically. When someone's life reaches a do-or-die moment, like when someone's significantly weakened and is about to be defeated, but then suddenly they get a big boost of power from like, love, or anger? Yep, that's my mom's doing. Power like that doesn't come out of nowhere, people,  _come on!_  I get a power boost naturally whenever my life is on the line, so that's why I'm in better condition than Veon now - who thought he was fine until he stood up and his head spun like it had been turned to liquid and was sloshing around in his head.

Of course, the power boost is usually just enough to get me out of whatever situation I got into to be near dead, and afterward, I'm basically left with the worst hangover in the history of hangovers. Either that, or I pass out for about a day. Or both. Plus all my limbs feel like lead afterward for about a week. Hey, I never said my mother's gift was OP or anything. It saves my life, and so I suppose it's worth all the suffering after, right? Point is, right now, I've got enough power to at least handle myself somewhat.

Kaze charged and tackled me off the metal walls so we went tumbling to the floor. It wasn't exactly the most strategic move, but hey, it wasn't like the kid was trained to be a military general or anything. We tumbled away from each other, but obviously, Kaze recovered much faster and retrieved his weapon. I grabbed my bow from my belt and blocked a blow that was aimed precisely to cause me to be knocked back across the floor.

" _Rei, don't fight us!_ " He ordered. " _You need to open your eyes!_ "

"You _stop fighting_ us! _You need to open_ your _eyes!_ "

" _My eyes are open!_ "

" _So are mine!_ "

" _You are_ **being deceived!** " He said that as though if he said it enough times and emphasized his point enough, I might suddenly change my mind. Honestly, did he think I was deaf? I was a descendant of Apollo. I was the  _opposite_  of deaf.

" _I know you are, but what am I?!_ " Hm, did I use that right? Honestly, a lot of English sayings still confuse me. Meh. Dramatic battle between me and my sort-of brother here.

I got to my feet and charged. Our weapons clashed with booming force, Kaze's and my strength pretty equal, considering I didn't have much of Zyanya's power running through me, only my own and my mother's, which paled in comparison, but it would have to do. Yet I knew how Kaze's shuriken was made. Heck, I was the one who  _made_  it into what it was. I knew it far better than he did. I twisted my bow so it slid down one of Kaze's blades and spit the shuriken into two boomerangs, snatching one of them in one swift motion before spinning in Kaze's fractional moment of surprise and swinging my bow all the way around to try and strike him from the side. At the last second - or possibly a little before, considering he was probably in speed-mode and saw my attack coming with plenty of time to react - and pushed his half of his shuriken to intercept my bow.

I jumped back with both my weapon and the half of his, flicking it so that the two blades went from perpendicular from each other to parallel - i.e., I transformed it into a double-bladed lance. He snapped the two halves of his boomerang apart to have two swords, and I snapped my bow onto my belt so that we each were fighting with the half of the shuriken.

" _You have yet to realize the true power I infused within this weapon, Kaze. I will not let you stop us!_ "

" _And I won't let you stop us!_ "

" _Too bad for you then!_ " The two of us charged, albeit Kaze was a bit faster. To make up for his speed, I threw my weapon like a javelin, aiming for his head. Kaze, unsurprisingly, was able to dodge with room to spare, however, I was a descendant of Apollo with my mother, Zenobia's, power enhancing my own even further than normal, and so it was impossible for me to miss my target. Kaze continued forward after my attack without breaking stride, but before his weapon could make contact, I disappeared, leaving only a momentary silhouette of green dust before it dissolved into the air. Another silhouette appeared next to my half of Kaze's shuriken, revealing me, my hand on the hilt of the weapon.

" _This is a little trick I like to call…_ " I pulled the weapon from the floor where it was embedded, pulling the two swords apart. " _A Warp-Strike._ " ( **No, I did not come up with the concept of Warp-Striking. It's a Final Fantasy XV thing, and I do not claim any rights to it and whatnot. Probably one of the most awesome things to possibly come out of that game, gameplay-wise, and it looked awesome in Kingsglave. Non-Final Fantasy nerds, you can ignore this or go and see for yourself.** )

Before Kaze could process what was happening and how it happened, I tossed the two swords in two different directions, one to either side of him. His eyes instantly moved to follow the one to his left, and even with his speed, the distraction was all I needed. I warped to the blade that went to his right, appearing with my hand already on the hilt of the sword to stop its flight and twist it in Kaze's direction. I swung it so that the blunt of the sword hit him (after all, I didn't want to slice him in half) and swung the blade like a bat to send him flying.

Kaze hit the ground rolling, landing next to the blade that I'd thrown as a distraction and taking the opportunity to snatch it up. But I'd also planned for this. I then warped to that blade, ending up standing beside him with my hand on the hilt and pushing to slam the butt of the sword right into his nose, nearly hitting his eyes. With that debilitating blow, I snatched his half of the shuriken, merging all four blades into the original weapon, before throwing it black and warping to end up a good thirty feet away.

" _You wanna fight me? Don't play with fire, Kaze, or I promise, you'll get burnt._ "

" _I could say the same to you. You're not the only one who's learned things since I died!_ " He threw his hand up and the air around him began to spin to create a mini-tornado, which he promptly send my way. I held my hand out to intercept it, and when it hit my hand, it froze in its tracks, still spinning, but no longer charging in my direction.

" _Daughter of the sky god, remember?_ " I shoved the tornado back at him, before pulling a lighter out of my bag. " _This is how it's done, Kaze. Firestorm!_ " I blew the flame, using the winds to increase its power, before it all got sucked into the tornado as Kaze got sucked in. Meanwhile, the hydra snapped at Percy's hands, so he swung and dropped, landing in a grove of painted plywood trees that sprang up from nowhere. The trees changed positions as he tried to run through them, so he slashed down the whole forest with Riptide.

"Wonderful!" Ephialtes cried, standing at his control panel about sixty feet to the left. "We'll consider this a dress rehearsal. Shall I unleash the hydra onto the Spanish Steps now?" He pulled a lever, and we looked to see the cage Percy had been hanging from rising toward a hatch in the ceiling. In three seconds, it would be gone, and if Percy attacked the giant, the hydra would ravage the city. Cursing, he threw Riptide like a boomerang. The sword wasn't designed for that, but the Celestial bronze blade sliced through the chains suspending the hydra. The cage tumbled sideways, the door broke open, and the monster spilled out - right in front of Percy.

"Oh, you  _are_  a spoilsport, Jackson!" Ephialtes called. "Very well. Battle it here if you must, but your death won't be nearly as good without the cheering crowds." Percy stepped forward to confront the monster - then realized he'd just thrown his weapon away. A bit of bad planning on his part. He rolled to one side as all eight hydra heads spat acid, turning the floor where he'd been standing into a steaming crater of melted stone.

"Dammit," I muttered. I threw the shuriken towards the monster, purposefully aiming to miss striking one of the heads, as the end result would probably be an accidental decapitation, and another head springing out. I warped over the moment it was above the hydra, and then changed its direction downwards to strike the hydra in the back. All eight heads roared in pain, before then turning to try and snap at me, I warped up as high as I could toss the weapon, before then tossing it away again once more in the air to land beside Percy.

"Percy, look for explosives, will you? Didn't you see some rocket launchers in your dreams?"

"Right!"

" _Rei!_ " Someone shouted in a rage.

"Go!" I tossed Percy away, jumping up before Kaze went running past where I'd been standing. He ended up running towards the hydra before coming to a stop and turning back my way. I split the shuriken into four blades, tossing them to the left and right of the hydra, and then two, one before the other, above its heads. I warped to the left, struck the hydra in the hind leg and drawing all of its heads my way with a roar. I repeated the process with the blade that went to the right, before then warping to the first one above the hydra. By that point, I was able to bring it down on the monster's back, this time piercing its spine, before warping to the final blade and bringing it down on one of the heads, slicing its head off from about halfway down. Pulling out my lighter, I blew a wave of fire into the head, setting the neck stump on fire, and therefore preventing it from growing back. Because if cauterizing the necks of the hydra worked for Iolaus, (eye-oh-l-ow-us, awesome name) it'll work anywhere, as we've learned.

At the dais, Piper stood guard over Nico and Veon. Veon had gotten up and had his sword drawn, but he looked like he was on the verge of passing out just from standing up. Piper aimed her cornucopia and shot a pot roast over the cats' heads. It must have smelled pretty good, since a couple of them raced after it, while the others decided that demigods were a larger and tastier meal, especially ones who's worst attack seemed to be flying food.

"Dammit," I muttered. I warped up above the hydra, falling onto one of its heads. While the others all turned to where I'd landed and moved to lash out, I sheathed Kaze's shuriken and drew my bow. Jumping off the hydra's head just before the others came crashing in - consequently causing all of them to smash into each other - I launched as high as I could with a gust of wind and then took aim.

" ** _Time to show me what you've got, bow._** " The bow responded, infusing my the arrow with a mucky green glow before I fired it off. It landed in between the leopards, but let turned the ground around it into a pool of acid. It expanded quickly, and when it touched the animals, they instantly roared and darkened, their skin rotting like a zombie's on fast forward, going through the entire decomposition process in an instant, and melting into a disgusting-looking and disgusting-smelling pile of dead meat. Eventually, even that melted away, and the bones crumbled into oblivion. Meanwhile, about eighty feet to the right, Jason battled Otis, sword against spear. Otis had lost his diamond tiara and looked angry about it. He probably could have impaled Jason several times, but the giant insisted on doing a pirouette with every attack, which slowed him down. Ephialtes was laughing as he punched buttons on his control board, cranking the conveyor belts into high gear and opening random animals cages, causing mass panic throughout the place and leaving far too many variables to keep track of all at once.

The hydra shook its heads, trying to recover its wits, and then charged around a hamster wheel where Percy was. Percy swung behind a column, grabbed a garbage bag full of Wonder bread, and threw it at the monster. The hydra spit acid, which was a mistake. The bag and wrappers dissolved in midair, and the Wonder bread absorbed the acid like fire extinguisher foam, splattering it against the hydra, covering it in a sticky, steaming layer of high-calorie poisonous goo. As the monster reeled, shaking its heads and blinking Wonder acid out of its eyes, Percy looked around desperately for the rocket launchers. Tucked against the back wall was a strange contraption like an artist's easel, fitted with rows of missile launchers. There was a bazooka, a grenade launcher, a giant Roman candle, and a dozen other wicked-looking weapons. They all seemed to be wired together, pointing in the same direction and connected to a single bronze lever on the side. At the top of the easel, spelled in carnations, were the words:  **HAPPY DESTRUCTION ROME!**

I slammed down upon the hydra as it tried to chase after Percy, who bolted towards the device. It hissed and its heads turned their attention to trying to snap at me once more. I shot an arrow off to the side and instantly warped to it, but it wasn't exactly pretty, since the arrow was going far faster than the shuriken - which I had merely thrown, not shot from such a powerful bow - and so I ended up finding myself flying at high speeds when I appeared, the arrow shaft burning my palm as I brought it to an abrupt stop.

"I know!" Ephialtes cried out happily. "We can start with explosions along the Via Labicana! We can't keep our audience waiting forever!"

"No you don't!" I called, pulling back the bowstring and firing at the small-giant. That was an oxymoron, wasn't it? Whateves. The arrow hit the control board, sparking with electricity and causing a small explosion, forcing Ephialtes to take a step back in surprise. The next thing I knew, I was struck by another explosion from a grenade, small bits of metal digging into my left side. The fact that I landed on my left from the force of the blast didn't help either, and I let out a small noise of pain before biting it back, tasting copper in the process. Don't show your enemies that you're in pain. They'll only use it to their advantage.

" _Stop this Rei!_ " Kaze's clothes were slightly charred, but it wasn't like I wanted the Firestorm to kill him, and so he looked only half crispy. " _Or we will have to make you!_ "

"You won't touch her!" Veon suddenly appeared behind Kaze from his shadow and wrapped his arm around Kaze's throat, dragging him back. Kaze struggled at high speeds, making it basically impossible to keep a grip on him, no matter how strong Veon was, and in his current state he was in no condition to be shadow-traveling in the first place, so it wasn't hard for Kaze to rip himself free and elbow Veon in the face before turning and punching him in the gut.

I concentrated and forced a surge of energy through the metal shards, causing them to all vibrate, which was painful to say the least, and then dislodge themselves. I muttered the quickest hymn in history, trying to concentrate on healing the lacerations, while also standing and swinging my bow at Kaze. It was obviously ineffective, as he dodged with ease and turned to kick the bow out of my grip. With my left side still incapacitated, I had the bow in my right hand, which was still blistered from warp-striking to my arrow, and so it wasn't a surprise that he easily kicked it out of my grasp with his strength and speed behind it. He punched me in the forehead hard enough that I swear I could feel my brain crashing against my skull, and disrupting my concentration so that my healing process stopped. Then, I was punched in the gut and send flying with the wind knocked out of me and my head spinning.

"Yo, stop it, kid!" Audrey suddenly formed behind Kaze, gripping her hand over his mouth and nose, her hand made of water. Kaze struggled against her at high speeds, but everywhere he was touching her, she transformed into water, which morphed out of the way - as what usually happens when punching water - and gave him nothing solid to hit.

"Are you okay?" Veon asked.

"Besides the fact that I'm gonna knock you upside the head later for shadow-traveling in your condition?" I asked. "A little winded and sporting a massive headache."

"Welcome to the club."

"Give me your hand." He did so, and when I touched it, it flickered and became transparent. He concentrated, and it flickered solid again.

"Sorry, that happens."

"Right," I muttered skeptically. "Drink this." I passed him a vial from my bag, the dark red liquid slightly bubbling inside with small sparkles of both golden flakes and black ones.

"Is that safe to drink?"

"Yes, unless you're secretly an evil monster in disguise. Then, it will burn you from the inside out and turn your insides to acid within seconds, therefore melting your body and soul down into eternal torment, instantly sending you to the darkest depths of Tartarus for eternity."

"Uh, and where was this every  _other_  time we've faced deadly monsters in disguise?"

"Give me a break. These things are rare, all right? And making them burns out my bag for a good hour. Now drink, idiot, before you fade away."

"I'm not gonna fade away!" I moved to slap him in the face, but even as he flinched, my hand soared right through him like he was made of air. He fell to the floor from a sudden wave of fatigue and nausea, and finally sighed and drank the Phoenix Blood. Oh, right, it's called Phoenix Blood, by the way.

"Oh, you've  _got_  to be kidding me!" Audrey complained. Kaze had been on the brink of passing out, but then screamed in his final desperate attempt to flee and exploded into a strong gale of wind that caused Audrey's water to explode outwards before reforming. "He can turn into air?!" She demanded. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!"

"He's never done it before!" I shouted.

"Now how the hell are we supposed to restrain him?!"

"Tar makes an air-tight seal. We just need to capture him in a bubble of tar. Ve?"

"Not gonna be easy," He muttered.

"Obviously not. Plus, Kako are slow. You're gonna have to jump him and not leave a single opening. He has to be completely covered or it's not worth anything. And don't let him suffocate you. Trust me, he's a fast learner and he doesn't fight fair."

"Duck and cover!" Percy suddenly shouted. The easel he was at shook and the weapons began to hiss. Percy leaped to one side as the easel fired. The sound was like a fiesta in the middle of an exploding gunpowder factory, and the hydra vaporized instantly. Unfortunately, the recoil knocked the easel sideways and sent more projectiles shooting all over the room. A chunk of ceiling collapsed and crushed a waterwheel. More cages snapped off their chains, unleashing two zebras and a pack of hyenas. A grenade exploded over Ephialtes's head, blasting him back off his feet while he was trying to work with the control board that I'd shot. Across the room, sandbags rained down around Piper and Nico. Piper tried to pull Nico to safety, but one of the bags caught her shoulder and knocked her down.

"Piper!" Jason cried. He ran towards her, completely forgetting about Otis, who aimed his spear at Jason's back.

"Duck!" I shouted. Jason, luckily, had fast reflexes, and as Otis threw, Jason rolled. I fired an arrow to hit the spear in mid-air, knocking it off course with an explosion of wind. Jason flicked his hand as well, helping send the spear across the room and skewering Ephialtes through his side just as he was getting to his feet.

"Otis!" Ephialtes shouted, stumbling away from his control board, clutching the spear as he began to crumble into monster dust. "Will you  _please_  stop killing me!"

"Not my fault!" Otis had barely finished speaking when Percy's missile-launching contraption spit out one last sphere of Roman candle fire. The fiery pink ball of death (naturally, it had to be pink) hit the ceiling above Otis and exploded in a beautiful shower of light. Colorful sparks pirouetted gracefully around the giant. Then a ten-foot section of roof collapsed and crushed him flat.

"Well that went well," Audrey muttered.

"I got him!" Veon shouted. We looked over to see him panting next to a large orb of tar. "I  _never_ …want to do that again. Your brother…is crazy."

"He'd probably take that as a compliment," I muttered. Jason ran to Piper's side and helped her up, but she yelped when he touched her arm. Her shoulder looked unnaturally bent, but she muttered that she was okay.

"Nico, you good?" Veon asked. He helped Nico sit up, and Nico looked around him in bewilderment, as if just realizing he'd missed a battle.

"Piper, let me help," I said. I touched her gently and began to send her some healing energy. And then I felt a large wave of fatigue. "Crap." I would've hit the floor if Veon hadn't dived to catch me. Now that the fight was over and my enemies were turned to dust, the power boost from my mother wore off. It worked like that, whether the battle was truly over or not.

"Zy?" Veon asked, and though his voice was nice, the noise was making my head pound painfully. "What's wrong?"

"Sleep. Bye."

"Hey, no, stay with me."

"No~!"

"Come on, it's not over yet. We need you." Sadly, the giants seemed to agree with him. Ephialtes was already re-forming, his head and shoulders rising from the mound of dust, tugging his arms free and glowered at Percy. Across the room, the pile of rubble shifted, and Otis busted out, his head slightly caving in. All the firecrackers in his hair had popped, his braids were smoking, and his leotard was in tatters, which was just about the only way it could've looked  _less_  attractive on him.

"Percy!" Jason shouted, which was piercing to my power-hangover sensitive hearing. "The controls!" Percy unfroze from his shock and found Riptide in his pocket again, uncapping it and lunging for the switchboard. He slashed across the top, decapitating the controls in a shower of bronze sparks.

"No!" Ephialtes wailed. "You've ruined the spectacle!" Percy didn't turn fast enough, and Ephialtes swung his spear like a bat and smacked him across the chest. He fell to his knees, clutching his stomach. Jason ran to his side, but Otis lumbered after him. Percy managed to rise and found himself shoulder to shoulder with Jason. Meanwhile, the orb of tar holding Kaze began to dry and crack thanks to Kaze creating a wind inside. Once it was brittle enough, his wind was able to bust free.

"Well. So much for that plan," Audrey muttered. Piper was still unable to rise from her injury, and I joined her when Veon set me down in favor of drawing his sword. Nico was barely conscious and basically had as much fighting energy as me and Piper. The giants were healing, getting stronger by the minute, while the others were not. Without me, Kaze was going to be harder than the twins, having actual cognitive faculties and rational fighting skills. Ephialtes smiled apologetically.

"Tired, Percy Jackson? As I said, you cannot kill us. So I guess we're at an impasse. Oh, wait…no we're not! Because we can kill you!"

"That is the first sensible thing you've said all day, brother," Otis grumbled, picking up his fallen spear.

"You'll find I am  _very_  hard to kill," I muttered. "Even without the goddess, I am strongest at my weakest. Come and get it, losers."

"We'll cut you into pieces like Jupiter did to Saturn," Jason growled.

"Why did I just imagine the planet Jupiter chopping up Saturn?" Audrey muttered. "And hey, wasn't it Saturn that chopped up Uranus? Or am I remembering that wrong?"

"Just go with it, Audrey," Veon said. "It was a dramatic battle quote."

"That's right," Percy said. "I mean, about not giving up and winning, and just going with it, Audrey. You're both dead. I don't care if we have a god on our side or not."

"Well, that's a shame," A new voice boomed. To the right, another platform lowered from the ceiling and, leaning casually on a pinecone-topped staff, was a man in a purple camp shirt, khaki shorts, and sandals with white socks. He raised his broad-brimmed hat, and purple fire flickered in his eyes. "I'd hate to think I made a special trip for nothing."


	39. Colosseum Match

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned!
> 
> I was caught up in finals, my other stories, writer's block, the fact that fight scenes aren't very encouraging to write with, and suddenly I've been gone for months. But at least I haven't made plans to abandon the story completely. I will finish this story, dammit!
> 
> Reviews bring encouragement.
> 
> Enjoy! :)

First Person: Zytaveon

I couldn't tell if I was relieved or completely confused. Everything suddenly grew quiet upon the god's arrival; the machines ground to a halt, the wild animals stopped growling, and the two leopards that had gone after Piper's pot roast paced over - still licking their lips from said meal - and butted their heads affectionately against the god's legs, and Bacchus scratched their ears.

"Really, Ephialtes," He chided. "Killing demigods is one thing, but using leopards for your spectacle? That's over the line." The giant made a squeaking sound.

"This…this is impossible. D-D-"

"It's Bacchus, actually, my old friend," Said the god. "And of course it's possible. Someone told me that there was a party going on." He looked the same as he had in Kansas, meaner, leaner, with less of a potbelly than Dionysus. He had longer hair, more spring in his step, and a lot more anger in his eyes. He even managed to make a pinecone on a stick look intimidating.

"Took you long enough," Zy muttered. "There's such thing as fashionably late, but you, sir, are just plain late."

"Oh, I'm hurt, Ode. And here I thought you liked having center stage." Ephialtes's spear quivered.

"You…you gods are doomed! Be gone, in the name of Gaea!"

"Hmm," Bacchus hummed, unimpressed. He strolled through the ruined props, platforms, and special effects. "Tacky." He waved his hand at a painted wooden gladiator, then turned to a machine that looked like an oversized rolling pin studded with knives. "Cheap. Boring. And this…" He inspected the rocket-launching contraption, which was still smoking. "Tacky, cheap,  _and_  boring. Honestly, Ephialtes. You have no sense of style."

"STYLE?!" The giant's face flushed. "I have  _mountains_  of style! I  _define_  style! I…I…"

"My brother  _oozes_  style," Otis suggested.

"Thank you!" Ephialtes cried. Bacchus stepped forward, and the giants stumbled back.

"Have you two gotten shorter?" Asked the god.

"We did drop a rock on Otis," Audrey admitted.

"Oh, that's low!" Ephialtes growled. "I'm quite tall enough to destroy you, Bacchus! You gods, always hiding behind your mortal heroes, trusting the fate of Olympus to the likes of  _these._ " He sneered at Percy, while Jason hefted his sword.

"Lord Bacchus, are we going to kill these giants or what?"

"Well, I certainly hope so," Bacchus said. "Please, carry on." Percy stared at him.

"Didn't you come here to help?" Bacchus shrugged.

"Oh, I appreciated the sacrifice at sea. A whole ship full of Diet Coke. Very nice. Although I would've preferred Diet Pepsi."

"Of course you would," Zy deadpanned.

"And six million in gold and jewels," Percy muttered.

"Yes," Bacchus said. "Although with demigod parties of five or more the gratuity is included, so that wasn't necessary."

"What?"

"Nevermind. At any rate, you got my attention. I'm here. Now I need to see if you're worthy of my help. Go ahead. Battle. If I'm impressed, I'll jump in for the grand finale."

"I  _told_  you this was how they operated," Zy muttered.

"We speared one," Percy said.

"Dropped the roof on the other," Audrey added.

"But  _someone_  was late to the party and didn't see it," I added.

"What do you consider impressive?" Percy asked.

"Ah, a good question…" Bacchus tapped his thyrsus before giving a smile that made everyone think ' _Uh-oh_.' "Perhaps you need inspiration! The stage hasn't been properly set. You call this a spectacle, Ephialtes? Let me show you how it's done." The god dissolved into purple mist, and Piper, Zy and Nico disappeared.

"Pipes!" Jason yelled. "Bacchus, where did you-?" The entire floor rumbled and began to rise, the ceiling opened in a series of panels, sunlight pouring in, the air shimmering like a mirage, and the roar of a crowd could be heard above. The hypogeum ascended through a forest of weathered stone columns, into the middle of a ruined coliseum, but not just any coliseum,  _the_  Colosseum. The giants' special effects machines had gone into overtime, laying planks across ruined support beams so the arena had a proper floor again, the bleachers repairing themselves until they were gleaming white. A giant red-and-gold canopy extended overhead to provide shade from the afternoon sun, the emperor's box was draped with silk, flanked by banners and golden eagles, and the roar of applause came from thousands of shimmering purple ghosts, the Lares of Rome brought back for an encore performance and happy to have entertainment even after death.

Vents opened in the floor and sprayed sand across the arena. Huge props sprang up - garage-size mountains of plaster, stone columns, and (for some reason) life-sized plastic barnyard animals. A small lake appeared to one side, ditches crisscrossing the arena floor in case anyone was in the mood for trench warfare. The four of us stood together facing the twin giants and Kaze.

"This is a proper show!" Boomed the voice of Bacchus. He sat in the emperor's box wearing purple robes and golden laurels. At his left sat Nico, Piper, and Zy, Piper's shoulder being tended by a nymph in a nurse's uniform, and Zy drinking some nectar, healing herself with her own magic, and then drinking more. At Bacchus's right crouched a satyr, offering up Doritos and grapes. The god raised a can of Diet Pepsi and the crowd went respectfully quiet.

"You're just going to  _sit_  there?!" Percy shouted, glaring up at him.

"The demigod is right!" Ephialtes bellowed. "Fight us yourself, coward! Um, without the demigods." Bacchus smiled lazily.

"Juno says she's assembled a worthy crew of demigods. Show me. Entertain me, heroes of Olympus. Give e a reason to do more. Being a god has its privileges." He popped his soda can top, and the crowd cheered. Zy stood, stretching and pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

"This is why I hate the gods," She muttered.

"Your welcome," Bacchus said, drinking his Pepsi.

"Apollo's still my favorite, wine dude." She jumped down into the Colosseum and walked over to us. "Time to play our roles."

Even though I was already told the gods did things like this, I was still furious. Fighting the giants was one thing, but making it into a game was something else. Maybe this was one of the reasons Kaze could believe what Gaea told him about the gods. We fought so hard for them, we were risking our lives time and time again, and all the instances where we ask for just a little mercy, it's all just a game to them. The giants and Gaea were on the verge of rising and overthrowing the gods, and they posed a serious threat, yet the gods seemed to either choose to remain oblivious to the danger or didn't take it seriously enough.

We demigods were just pawns of the gods, and even when we proved ourselves over and over, their pride and hubris never ceased. Maybe the gods were better than the Titans, or the giants, or Gaea, but that didn't make them good or wise. It just meant they were what we had to settle for, they were the best thing we were gonna get, even if they weren't everything we'd prefer.

"Five against three?" Ephialtes asked. "Well, this just won't do." He pulled out what looked to be a grenade before smashing it down into the ground in front of him. "Mother left me a present in the event something like this occurred." A pool of darkness formed where he'd smashed the egg-shaped pebble, and I instantly sensed something vile coming from it. There were different types of darkness and death, and I liked the good kind of death, natural death like from my father's realm, but this was just disgusting, unnatural, and it made my gut twist in sickness.

Out of the vat rose two bodies, one female, and one male. They seemed to be made of tar, like Kako, but they took shape quickly and solidified people. The male seemed to be half-Asian, half Caucasian, with golden hair and deep blue eyes. He wore a military-style outfit, thick pants, and T-shirt, combat boots, along with a red trench coat that almost seemed to be shimmering like a lava lamp. The female seemed to lean more to the Asian side, with brown hair pulled into a fishtail braid at her right shoulder, and grass-green pupils. She looked like she came straight from the Hunters of Artemis, decked out in jeans, camo shoes with a wedge, a black T-shirt, fingerless gloves, a bag at either hip hanging from her belt, and an olive green trench coat like the man's. Both of them had pale, smooth skin, like porcelain, but it was visibly cracking, and their sclera were midnight black, accentuating their eye colors while also making them look like monsters.

The waves of undead energy they were giving off was almost enough to make me hurl. They weren't alive by any means, their souls had long since left their bodies, but they were still animated with some kind of unholy force - worse than anything I'd ever encountered. Not to mention how powerful it was. They were radiating waves of the unnatural energy so powerful that it seemed to be pushing through the air like a perpetual shockwave from an explosion, as though they had their own gravitational forces, but in reverse.

"Well, that can't be good," Audrey muttered. Zy was staring at them in shock, and Kaze didn't seem to be any better. He seemed to have been unaware of this scheme, and I couldn't tell if he was looking at them in shock or horror. Zy, who had just healed herself up, was now taking shallow breaths, as if on the verge of hyperventilating, and I was just sick from the aura of the two making the air like poison, especially for my Underworld-y sense of smell.

Ephialtes and Otis decided it was a good time to start the battle since half of us were taken off guard and no point in wasting an opportunity for a preemptive. Together, the giants picked up a fake mountain as big as an apartment building and hurled it at us. Jason and Percy dove into the nearest trench, while Audrey pulled me into another in the opposite direction, the sudden movement causing me to nearly lose my lunch. Zy, however, stayed exactly where she was right where the plaster boulder would've landed. I say 'would've' because the instant it came close, she exploded with electricity, a thunderous boom ringing out across the Colosseum that shook the ground and had to have been heard back in the States. The fake mountain didn't stand a chance and was instantly destroyed, raining down plaster shrapnel everywhere.

"How dare you?!" She shouted, drawing her bow. "HOW DARE YOU?!" She launched forward with a gust of wind as though she'd gained Kaze's speed, and charged right at the reanimated man. I thought he'd be instantly disintegrated with an angry Lucy - yes, Lucy, because there was no one I knew better that had a temper like this, not even Zyanya - charging at him at that speed with her choice weapon drawn, but a split second before she made contact, he raised his hand and in a flash of light, a glowing red longbow that matched his trench coat appeared and blocked her attack. The longbows were identical in shape and size, but he blocked the attack with only one outstretched arm and wasn't even straining. I suppose, being a reanimated being of some of the nastiest evil I've ever come into contact with, he would be built to be unfeeling, unburdened by the limitations that he might have once had in life. If this was a trick that Gaea had full access too, making warriors with unlimited strength, unburdened by emotions or feelings, and so powerful, we were in serious trouble.

"What the hell is that thing?" Audrey asked, watching the scene unfold. "That hit had to have ripped his arm clean off at the angle he's blocking it!"

"A reanimation," I said. "It's unholy. The smell itself just makes me sick, even from here. Those are the shells of once-living people, but they aren't animated by souls. They have a kind of dark magic within them that…I can't even begin to describe it."

"Did Gaea make them while Thanatos was captured?"

"No. Thanatos's capture resulted in souls being able to roam freely from the Underworld. Even the Doors of Death work by preventing souls - and bodies - of monsters from returning to the world of the living. But like I said, these things don't need souls."

"So Gaea has a way to bring back the dead even with Thanatos up and running and the Doors of Death closed?!"

"I won't say that. The amount of power that it took to make these things…there's no way she'd be able to repeat the process an infinite amount of times, and the whole point is that these are just imitations. No better than dolls. Even if she made one, say, of a giant we'd defeated, it wouldn't actually be the giant. It would just be a shell, since obviously, the  _real_  giant would be in Tartarus. But the thing would still have the giant's power, if made correctly, along with the added benefit of not being susceptible to the whole "keep them talking" trick since they don't have personalities, no hubris to exploit. Plus, they don't feel anything. We could tear off their limbs and rip out their brains and they wouldn't feel it. They'd be able to keep going without so much as flinching."

"Oh, is that all?" She asked sarcastically.

"They might have enough dark energy within them to re-grow and heal any damage we do. Just a theory, but a plausible one. I'd assume they're resistant to any elements we can throw at them, because that dark energy is dense, and it'd be like trying to disintegrate a rock with a blowtorch. And though they don't have souls, it's entirely possible that they're able to learn and adapt in battle. If Gaea provides them with memory, they might even be able to take other forms and use the whole empathy tactic."

"Okay, now I wish I had Emily here instead of you, because you are  _seriously_  not helping. Got anything  _useful?_ "

"I don't know enough about them-"

"Oh  _really?_ "

"-to know what their weaknesses are. All I can suggest is to throw all we have at them, try all the tricks we've got. My chains of darkness, for example, might be able to grab ahold and drain them of their dark energy, but then again, they don't have souls, so it could end up poisoning my chains with the energy instead. Maybe your water can purify them or something, or they're like zombies from Final Fantasy X, and healing efforts will actually hurt them. Then we have the giants to worry about as well."

"Compared to those things, I think Percy and Jason have it easy going one-on-one with the twins."

"Fair enough. But one-on-one wasn't working before, clearly. They're probably gonna have to work together somehow. We're were built as a team for a reason. Keep track of them just in case if you can, but right now, we need to focus our efforts on those two reanimations. They probably have even more tricks up their sleeves, so be on alert."

"Obviously."

"Remember that they're unfeeling, so a sonic scream probably won't do anything. Your ability to change to water might get you out of some tight spots, and you might be able to rip them apart from the inside. Try everything. Freezing them, boil them, knock them back with a hurricane. I'll try to eat them with my Kako, turn them to dust, and Zy, well…" We looked over to see her bashing away at the reanimated man with her bow, sparks flying with every strike as she screamed her lungs out in some kind of rage. "I think she gets the point."

"What's up with her?"

"Don't know, but it's certainly made her scary. Good for unleashing some serious chaos, but it also makes her reckless. She's thrown caution out the window, and while that might make her on equal grounds with the reanimations, they won't feel the consequences and she will."

To prove my point, she was thrown back by the reanimated man, who seemed to be adjusting and seeing how strong he was. He swung his bow to intercept hers, seemingly studying her moves up until now, and with the booming force of the clash and his more solid position sent her flying back through the air like she was a baseball and he'd swung without even knowing what was going to happen. She flipped mid-flight and landed on her feet, charging back in, but the women jumped in the way, tossing a grenade from her bag swiftly. It exploded in Zy's face, and she stumbled both from the force and the gas that was released from the small projectile. The woman then took the opportunity to kick Zy in the face in one fluid motion, clearly having more control over her body than the man.

"Zy!"

"Come on, we need to help her!" Audrey and I ran out, while Percy and Jason charged out of their trench to the twins. They had lifted another plaster mountain and were waiting for a clear shot. The giants raised it above their heads, preparing to throw, and Percy caused a water pipe to burst at their feet, shaking the floor. Jason sent a blast of wind against Ephialtes's chest, the purple-haired giant toppled backward, and Otis lost his grip on the mountain, which promptly collapsed on top of his brother. Only Ephialtes's snake feet stuck out, darting their heads around, as if wondering where the rest of their body had gone. The crowd roared with approval, but I suspected Ephialtes was only stunned.

"Hey, Otis!" Percy called. " _The Nutcracker_  bites!"

"Ahhhhh!" Otis snatched up his spear and threw, but he was too angry to aim straight. Jason deflected it over Percy's head and into the lake. The demigods backed towards the water, shouting insults about ballet - which must a challenge, since I know they didn't understand much about ballet at all. Otis barreled towards them empty-handed, before apparently realizing that A) he was empty-handed, and B) charging towards a large body of water to fight a son of Poseidon was maybe not a good idea. Too late, he tried to stop. The demigods rolled to either side, and Jason summoned the wind, using the giant's own momentum to shove him into the water. As Otis struggled to rise, Percy and Jason attacked as one. They launched themselves at the giant and brought their blades down on Otis's head. The poor guy didn't even have a chance to pirouette. He exploded into powder on the lake's surface like a huge packet of drink mix. Percy churned the lake into a whirlpool. Otis's essence tried to reform, but as his head appeared from the water, Jason called lightning and blasted him to dust again.

Meanwhile, Audrey and I charged in to take on the reanimations, which was probably an even worse idea than charging in empty-handed to fight a son of Poseidon beside a large body of water, but what the Hades could  _possibly_  go wrong? We each charged for the reanimation of our matching gender, and I moved to strike the man. He blocked with his longbow, and it was like hitting a solid brick wall with a stick. There was absolutely no leverage or strain from his block, and when he swung me away, there was nothing I could do but move my sword out of the way of his swing or get a Stygian iron blade to the face.

Audrey charged in with her dagger in right hand and a large mass of water floating around her left at the woman. She didn't have any physical weapons as far as I could see, but she dodged Audrey's attack by simply side-stepping at the absolute last second. Audrey, completely sure she was going to make contact with something, stumbled forward from the lack of a solid hit and found herself kicked to the ground with her momentum working against her. She rolled to her feet and held her hand with the water around it forward, sending snakes of water towards the reanimation that scattered and surrounded her. They all froze to sharpened points on the ends as she willed them to all converge on the female as fast as she could. They managed to pierce her body through multiple times, columns of ice pinning her to the floor, but she merely looked to the large spikes of ice running her through like a game of Ker-Plunk in disinterest, as though she was trying on an outfit and didn't like it. She brought her hand up and then smashed it through the ice with ease, freeing herself and pushing any of the ice still remaining within her out as the holes created in her body mended themselves. Even her clothes sealed themselves closed once more, no evidence of her ever being impaled left behind.

"Aw, crud," Audrey muttered.

I summoned my shadow chains to try and restrain the man, but when they tried to grab him, they soared right through as though the chains were nothing but holograms. He wasn't considered undead, which made sense, as the chains were built to recollect escaped souls, and there weren't any souls in there to collect. Summoning undead warriors clearly weren't going to work, so the Kako were up next. I summoned tar pits all around the man, some underneath him, and they began to converge on him, attempting to eat him up. Inside the Kako were souls, trapped within because of the Curse of the Kako that Annabeth had explained, and I could sense the souls, and therefore control them. Yet the moment they touched that man, he  _absorbed_  the souls, and instead of the Kako eating him,  _he_  ate the  _Kako!_  They began to disappear, though not out of fear. They willingly walked right up to the man, allowing him to touch them and then absorb them, their tar bodies moving like ink and molding into him before disappearing as though they had never been there. The souls within the Kako disappeared, they were being  _destroyed_  by his touch! I called off the Kako frantically, and to be honest, I wasn't really willing to try and turn this guy to dust.

" _Kaze!_ " Zy shouted. " _Will you allow this to continue? Will you allow their bodies to be defiled like this? Allow these unholy creatures to roam the earth, tearing everything apart in their paths? Gaea took their bodies, made them into_ these _. Can you really say she does what she does for_ good? _She is bitter, she is evil, and now she doesn't fight just for her rights! She fights to defile all you hold dear, and she will continue doing such things if she is allowed to wake! What she does, she doesn't do for a good cause! Please, Kaze,_ please! _You have to stop fighting us! Be angry at the gods, wish for them to suffer in the depths of Tartarus if you must, but if you turn against them, you will also be turning against everyone else! People who shouldn't be brought into the gods' affairs! You don't want others to be drawn in, to have to suffer like you did, but by fighting them, that is_ exactly _what you're doing! If the world is ruled by Gaea and her children, humans won't be allowed into the mix. You'll be taking away billions of lives,_ innocent _lives, who have no idea that this war is going on, that the gods even exist. Your mother, Tsuchi, should've never had to suffer, but at least while she was dead, she was at peace. Now, while she's like that, she'll forever be in pain under the control the earth goddess. She will forever be defiled._ "

Kaze stared at the woman sadly. So was that Tsuchi? Kaze's mother? She looked only slightly older than me. Even if Kaze was just being born while she was that old, she had to have been in her teenage years when she gave birth to Kaze if she died when he was three. Heck, she might've even been my age when Kaze was born. She had to have been angry if Hermes just up and left her pregnant while she was a teenager. At least if Kaze was born a mind-child like Annabeth, she wouldn't have had to deal with all the caveats of giving birth. And then, even after Kaze was born, she ran away once more, attempting to raise Kaze on the run as an orphan instead of trying to fix her life for his sake. She was so angry, so bitter, promised the love of a god and then abandoned with nothing.

And now she was trapped with that anger being used as a top-notch weapon.

As if our problems weren't bad enough, but Percy and Jason couldn't keep Otis down forever. Percy was already tired from his fight underground, his gut still ached from getting smacked with a spear shaft, he could definitely feel his strength waning, and they still had another giant to deal with. As if on cue, the plaster mountain exploded behind them. Ephialtes rose, bellowing with anger. Percy and Jason waited as he lumbered towards them, his spear in hand. Apparently, getting flattened under a plaster mountain had only energized him. His eyes danced with murderous light, the afternoon sun glinted in his coin-braided hair, and even his snake feet looked angry, baring their fangs and hissing.

Jason called down another lightning strike, but Ephialtes caught it on his spear and deflected the blast, melting a life-size plastic cow. He slammed a stone column out of his way like a stack of building blocks. Percy tried to keep the lake churning, wanting to keep Otis from rising and joining the fight, but as Ephialtes closed the last few feet, Percy had to switch focus. Jason and he met the giant's charge, lunging around Ephialtes, stabbing and slashing in a blur of gold and bronze, but the giant parried every strike.

"I will not yield!" Ephialtes roared. "You may have ruined my spectacle, but Gaea will destroy your world!"

"I felt more threatened by a fallen angel!" Zy shouted. She charged in and took Ephialtes's spear attack head-on, the spear-shaft snapping in half, though the giant wasn't fazed. He swept low with the blunt end, and though she jumped over it, even landing on the broken spear while it was in motion and launching herself up, Percy was knocked off his feet - being slightly less agile and prepared. Percy landed hard on his sword arm, and Riptide clattered out of his grip. When Zy came back down, she kicked Ephialtes across the face as hard as she could, rolling to a stop when she hit the ground again.

"Hey! Papa! Come and get it!"

The undead man instantly looked over at her, having been merely standing and staring at the scene unfolding previously.

"Come on! Test yourself! Test me! Can you hit me?! What happens when you charge me, huh?! What happens when I taunt you?!"

"What is she doing?" Audrey asked.

"The guy is still fresh," I explained. "Look at the way he's surveying everything. He doesn't understand the basics of battle, and he's only got his logic to go on. For now, he can't be sure whether her taunts are real or not, whether she's just bluffing. Study enough in life and it might become a lot easier for him to deduce, but for now, it seems that's the only advantage over these two that we have."

"And taunting the super-fast, super-strong, undead warrior is helping  _how?_ "

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Too obvious."

"That's the point."

"Wait a minute."

"Hm?"

"Did she just call him 'Papa?'"

The man charged in at super-speed, leaving a shockwave behind him, and Zy held her arms out like she was asking to get shot. I had confidence she was going to move out of the way, but when she didn't, I suddenly felt a wave of panic. She couldn't take a hit at that speed, I didn't care how tough she was. Everything happened in the blink of an eye, but suddenly she was gone, and the giant got slammed into by the undead guy and shattered to dust. At first, I thought she had been crushed, but then I saw she and Kaze were lying a distance across the ring, lying winded and shocked. Kaze was quick to get to his feet and haul Zy up and over to us.

"Well, that hurt less than I expected," She muttered, regaining her balance.

"Are you crazy?!" Audrey demanded.

"Probably," She admitted. "I planned for him to hit me, but Kaze came in. Almost forgot he was there."

"You  _planned_  to get hit?" I repeated. She shrugged.

"There was no way that he was going to charge me unless he was sure I didn't have a trap planned for him, and even if I made one, he would be too fast for me. The amount of time needed to get out of the way based on my reaction time wouldn't have compared to his speed. But it would've gotten the giant off, and distracted him, so."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Let's put the ' _You're a crazy fool_ ' speech on hold for a sec and talk about who that guy is."

"He is…or  _looks like_ , my father."

"T…That's your  _father?_ "

"Blonde hair, half Asian? How many naturally blonde Asians have  _you_  met? I speculate it's an Apollo thing. I haven't seen my dad's face in person for a long time, but I know that's him."

"So, wait, Gaea brought back  _both_  of your parents?" Audrey realized. "Yours and Kaze?"

"Mind tricks, no doubt. Veon, I believe you understand the extent of these people. Put all of their invulnerabilities and skills combined with the emotional effects upon me…Gaea's pulling out a big weapon. Meaning, she's getting desperate to stop me." She chuckled, seemingly to herself. "Wow. Fancy that."

"So, got any idea how to take them down?" She took a deep breath.

"No clue," She admitted. "Best guess was to beat the crap out of them, but that didn't work. The only advantage we have is that they're still learning. But that doesn't mean they're going to become Pinocchio "If only I were a real boy" or angels "Being human is confusing but not bad." They aren't going to want emotions, and they sure as hell aren't going to be stopped by them."

"So what then?" I demanded. She looked down, her eyes darting around in thought.

"Uh…backup."

"Backup?"

"We just have to stall for a few more minutes, so yes, backup. That is the plan." Over with her father, Kaze's mother had calmly walked over and looked down to the remains of the giant in interest, as though she didn't know what was going on, but was vaguely interested. Jason charged in with his sword at the ready, but she moved swiftly, dodging his swing, kicking up the giant's spear with her foot to grab it as she spun around, and brought it around to slice the tip of his spear down Jason's chest, ripping his purple shirt into a vest. Jason stumbled, looking to the thin line of blood down his sternum. She then turned, swinging the weapon like a bat with the blunt end and knocking him full force across the ground, his gladius skittering across the arena floor and he himself sliding a good ten feet before coming to a stop, his side in so much pain that he couldn't move. Up in the emperor's box, Piper cried out, but her voice was drowned in the roar of the crowd. Bacchus looked on with an amused smile, munching from a bag of Doritos.

"Jerk," I muttered.

"This is Bacchus we're talking about," Zy reminded him. "That was a given." The next thing that happened was slightly too fast to take in, but Kaze had apparently charged up from behind her, yet she had managed to duck under his thrown weapon as well as the physical punch that he had planned, grabbing his arm and tossing him over her shoulder and right into the rising Percy, who had stood and was moving to retrieve his weapon.

"How much time did we need for that backup again?" Audrey asked.

"Just a little longer."

Zy's father dusted the giant ashes off of him, seemingly more concerned with his jacket's appearance than the fight itself while the giant reformed behind him, slightly irritated, though that was to be expected after he just got bull-charged full force by a guy that strong. The two rising warriors walked forward towards us, and we all took up defensive stances.

"Think we stand a chance?" I asked.

"If you have to ask, then probably not," Audrey said.

"What's that old Peter Pan saying?" Zy muttered. "'To die would be a great adventure.'"

"Yeah, but  _he_  didn't have to go face his  _dad_  when he died," I pointed out.

"Look on the bright side. You'll get to be a prince full-time."

"Working errands for my dad and dealing with whiny souls for the rest of eternity. Sounds like a party."

"That's the spirit. I'll send you a postcard from Asphodel."

"I'd rather get a moogle from Valhalla, but sadly, here we are."

"Dude, Etro sounds like an awesome goddess of death compared to your dad. She's also the goddess of time and made humanity."

"Not to mention she had the power to contain the chaos of souls in Valhalla for as long as she did."

"But I want a moogle too."

"Yeah."

"You two done flirting?" Audrey asked.

"Let's go run to our deaths," Zy sighed.

"What else is new?" I pointed out. "Audrey, go and help with handling Otis and Ephialtes. At this point, I think you've got the easy job."

"I'm keeping Otis churning now," She said. "Best of luck guys."

"Ditto." Zy and I ran forward, me with my lance and her with her bow. I waved my lance and fed on its power, sending out a wave of black smoke at the two of them. As they were trying to learn about the battle, they didn't even try to avoid it, instead allowing it to start eating away at their bodies and turning every part of them that the smoke touched into dust. I had only done the technique twice before, and each time it was because I had been surrounded and was desperate - both times causing me to pass out and the second confirming that what I had done wasn't my imagination. Thanks to my lance upgrading me I was able to do it without wanting to pass out, even if I did feel the strain of the ability.

The two of them began to fall apart as the black smoke ate away at them, but their bodies were recovering just as fast as they were being dissolved. The two of us used the distraction to run up as the dust was dissolving, and each smacked the two of them with the hardest swings we could give at pieces of them that were still reforming from my smoke. It caused them each to be pushed back, but we had still felt the equivalent of hitting a brick wall with a bat, and their injuries were already closing, leaving no more weak points, and I couldn't do another cloud of smoke again without passing out.

Zy quickly drew an arrow and fired, the arrow glowing midflight with her green magic and striking her father in the chest, releasing a wave of green gas that started corroding the two of them as well, the same thing that she had used against the leopards before. The technique was different from mine, obviously, but it served the same purpose in distracting them and breaking through their rapidly recovering bodies and allowed us to strike. Zy shot another arrow, this time glowing with her purple energy, and it exploded with the normal force of one of her exploding arrows - enough to knock the two of them back once more.

"Veon!" She ordered. She spun her bow across the ground in a circle, sweeping it in front of me before she reached my feet. On the Argo II we had had little time to train, but the time that we  _did_  get we used to make up battle plans - most of which Zy came up with. Inspired by Final Fantasy - because what else were we supposed to nerd over? - we had figured out a way to allow me to do one of my favorite attacks.

I took a small jump to allow her to get her bow beneath my feet, and it one swift motion, she used her momentum that she'd built up in her swing to turn vertical and launch me up into the air (and don't get me started on how many failed attempts in training had led to her nearly breaking my legs, honestly). Her bow also glowed the moment she'd made contact with me, sending the aura up to surround me before gathering on my lance. I twisted in the air as I was launched forward towards the two warriors, and then I swung my lance downwards, the weapon dragging me down as though gravity had increased.

"Highwind!" I slammed down upon the two dazed and distracted undead, coming down upon them with a blast that shook the ground and sent each of them flying in either direction. The two of them actually grunted in surprise from the attacks, and their feet left the ground, causing them to land on their sides. They rolled across the ground for a short distance before they swiftly rose to their feet again, the damage actually having blown away most of the front of their bodies. The bad news was, the damage was being repaired as quickly as ever.

Meanwhile, Audrey was holding off Ephialtes using the pond water that was keeping Otis at bay, which must've been  _some_  kind of irony, considering she was killing two birds with one stone, holding off one of them while actually  _using_  the other. Ephialtes was swinging his two halves of his broken spear at the water that was surrounding him, Otis's gargled grunts and screams filling the air as he was smacked along with the water. Audrey was managing to keep the giant from charging at her, shoving him back with the water every time he tried to rush forward, but even with all the training we'd done before the trip to New Rome, she was losing her strength keeping up the water.

Eventually, the giant broke her water ring around him, the entire thing exploding and Audrey, unable to sustain it any longer, was being thrown back from the blast. She landed near Percy, Kaze, and Jason, who she was protecting behind her from the giant, and was ready to pass out from the energy she used and the blast knocking the wind out of her. She flicked her hand and her trident came from her cuff, and though it gave her strength to help her stay conscious, she had to lean on it in her attempt to get back to her feet, breathing heavily and with little hope that she was even going to be able to swing the thing once, let alone protect the boys.

Percy glanced up at Bacchus, deciding what final curse he would hurl at the useless wine god, when he saw a shape in the sky above the Colosseum - a large dark oval descending rapidly.

"Finally," Zy muttered.

From the ground where he was reforming, Otis yelled, trying to warn his brother, but his half-dissolved face could only manage, "Uh-umh-mooo!"

"Don't worry brother!" Ephialtes said, his eyes fixed on the demigods. "I will make them suffer!" The Argo II turned in the sky, presenting its port side, and green fire blazed from the ballista.

"Actually," Percy said. "Look behind you." Percy and Jason each rolled out of the way while Audrey hauled herself up to dive to the side with Percy and Kaze to the side with Jason as Ephialtes turned and bellowed in disbelief. Percy and Audrey dropped into a trench, and then Zy grabbed my arm to pull me into another just as the explosion rocked the Colosseum. When we climbed out - Jason and Kaze poking their heads out from behind their improvised bomb shelter of a plastic horse - they all saw the Argo II coming in for a landing.

"Argo ex Machina," I muttered. Zy chuckled.

"Oh yeah." Ephialtes lay charred and groaning on the arena floor, the sand around him seared into a halo of glass by the heat of the Greek fire. Otis was floundering in the ground in his puddle of water, trying to reform, but from the arms down he looked like a puddle of burnt oatmeal. Tsuchi and Zy's father were lying on the ground, their essences reforming much slower than before as well as being on fire. Percy staggered over to Jason and clapped him on the shoulder, while we walked over to Audrey, who seemed content just sitting in the trench trying to regain her breath.

The ghostly crowd gave them a standing ovation as the Argo II extended its landing gear and settled on the arena floor. Leo stood at the helm, Hazel, Emily, and Frank grinning at his side. Coach Hedge danced around the firing platform, pumping his fist in the air.

"That's what I'm talking about!" He yelled.

"Of course it was the goat at the ballista," Zy sighed with a smile. Percy turned to the emperor's box.

"Well?" He yelled at Bacchus. "Was that entertaining enough for you, you wine-breathed, little-"

"No need for that." Suddenly the god was standing right next to him in the arena. He brushed Dorito dust off his purple robes. "I have decided you are worthy partners for this combat."

"Partners?" Jason growled. "You did  _nothing!_ "

"I think we proved ourselves a  _long_  time ago," Zy hissed. "But  _someone_  was too lazy to take that into consideration, huh?" Bacchus walked to the puddle of Otis, and the water vaporized, leaving an Otis-headed pile of mush. Bacchus picked his way to the bottom and looked up at the crowd. The crowd jeered and hollered and pointed their thumbs down. I had never been sure whether that meant  _live_  or  _die_. I'd heard it both ways, and my sophomore World Studies class had also said it was debatable.

Bacchus chose the more entertaining option. He smacked Otis's head with his pinecone staff, and the giant pile of Otismeal disintegrated completely. The crowd went wild. I assumed it was because this fight, that could've been ended long ago, was finally over because Bacchus had finally done his part. Bacchus climbed out of the lake and strutted over to Ephialtes, who was still lying spread-eagled, overcooked and smoking. Again, Bacchus raised his thyrsus.

"DO IT!" The crowd roared.

"DON'T DO IT!" Ephialtes wailed. Bacchus tapped the giant on the nose, and Ephialtes crumbled to ashes.

"All of us nearly died, for him to poke the giant with a pinecone," Audrey grumbled. The ghosts cheered and threw spectral confetti as Bacchus strode around the stadium with his arms raised triumphantly, exulting in the worship. He grinned at the demigods.

" _That_ , my friends, is a show! And of  _course_  I did something. I killed two giants!"

"He kill-stealed like the bastard he is," Zy muttered. "There's a difference." As the others disembarked from the ship, the crowd of ghosts shimmered and disappeared. I helped Nico struggle down from the emperor's box as the Colosseum's magical renovations began to turn into mist, Piper in much better condition and able to hop down herself. The arena floor remained solid, but otherwise the stadium looked as if it hadn't hosted a good giant killing for eons.

"Well," Bacchus said. "That was fun. You have my permission to continue your voyage."

"Your  _permission?_ " Percy snarled.

"Yes." Bacchus raised an eyebrow. "Although  _your_  voyage may be a little harder than you expect, son of Neptune."

"Poseidon," Percy corrected him automatically. "What do you mean about  _my_  voyage?"

"And don't even get me started about  _you_ , daughter of Zenobia. In any case, you might try the parking lot behind the Emmanuel Building. Best place to break through. Now, good-bye, my friends. And, ah, good luck with that other little matter."

"Oh just  _leave_  already!" Zy snapped. The god vaporized in a cloud of mist that smelled faintly of grape juice. Jason ran to meet Piper, Nico, and I, while Coach Hedge trotted up to Percy, Audrey, Kaze, and Zy, with Hazel, Frank, Emily, and Leo close behind.

"Was that Dionysus?" Hedge asked. "I love that guy!"

"The feeling is  _not_  mutual," Audrey muttered.

"You're alive!" Percy said to the others. "The giants said you were captured. What happened?" Leo shrugged.

"Oh, just another brilliant plan by Leo Valdez."

"And Emily," Frank jumped in.

"You'd be amazed what you can do with an Archimedes sphere, a girl who can sense stuff underground, a girl who can understand all the complex stuff that no one else does and is able to explain it far better than I, and a weasel."

"I was the weasel," Frank said glumly.

"Basically, we activated a hydraulic screw with the Archimedes device - which is going to be  _awesome_  once I install it in the ship, by the way - Hazel sensed the easiest path to drill to the surface, we made a tunnel big enough for a weasel, and Frank climbed up with a simple transmitter that we slapped together. After that, it was just a matter of hacking into Coach Hedge's favorite satellite channels and charming him into ignoring said satellite channels to come and bring the ship around to rescue us. After he got us, finding you was easy, thanks to that godly light show at the Colosseum."

"Where's Annabeth?" Percy asked, seemingly trusting Leo's word even if he understood only about 10 percent of what he'd said. Leo winced.

"Yeah, about that…she's still in trouble, we think. Hurt, broken leg, maybe - at least according to this vision Gaea showed us. Rescuing her is our next stop." Two seconds before, Percy had been ready to collapse. Now another surge of adrenaline coursed through his body. He was probably debating whether he was grateful or angered that Leo hadn't gone to Annabeth's rescue first, but no time for that.

"Tell me about the vision," He said. "Tell me everything." The floor began to shake, and the two undead reanimations suddenly shot to their feet, now fully restored.

"Uh oh," Audrey muttered. But the two of them simply scanned the scene before each back-flipping out of the Colosseum and disappearing. Their exit didn't help with the floor, the wooden planks beginning to disappear, spilling sand into the pits of the hypogeum below.

"Let's talk onboard," Hazel suggested. "We'd better take off while we still can."


	40. You Are Coming Back

First Person: Lucy

We sailed out of the Colosseum and veered south over the rooftops of Rome. All around the Piazza del Colosseo, traffic had come to a standstill. A crowd of mortals had gathered, probably wondering about the strange lights and sounds that had come from the ruins. As far as we could see, none of the giants' spectacular plans for destruction had come off successfully. The city looked the same as before, and no one seemed to notice the huge Greek trireme rising into the sky. Not sure how the Mist pulled that one off, but I wasn't complaining. I was surprised that no one had tried to go in to investigate, but I guess Dionysus - Bacchus - had  _some_  kind of a brain in there and was able to keep them out. Perhaps he only liked a dead audience of Romans.

Everyone else was recovering from the fight, and Kaze was standing at the railing of the main deck. He hadn't said a word since we'd boarded the ship. I couldn't really blame him. We had just seen our parents after so many years, only to find them made into those…things. I was angry at Gaea for defiling him like that, daring to use him against me, but Kaze just looked sad. He didn't fight at his strongest against Tsuchi, I knew. Now, he was taking in all the shock of his mother and the aftermath of his betrayal of the crew as well as the giants just after when he sided with us against the reanimations.

" _Kaze-kun?_ " I muttered quietly.

Kaze just sat there, staring off at the view of Rome blankly, and I was cautious as I approached. " _Kaze?_ "

" _I'm sorry,_ " He said, without moving his head or changing his expression. " _I didn't know you and Veon-san were in the jar. And…I'm sorry for putting his brother trouble. I thought maybe I could get him out once you'd arrived. The giants only wanted him for bait, and so once you'd arrived, there would've been no reason to keep him in there, and no reason to pay any attention to him._ "

" _You know, if you wanted to speak with us, you didn't have to go to these lengths._ "

He huffed and turned to me. " _Yes, I_ did. _You…you're throwing your life away,_ again _, all for the goddess that made you kill me in the first place, makes you do things you hate. Zeus ruined my life, Tsuchi's life…even that Bacchus guy, nearly got us all killed before he just tapped the giants away and somehow seemed to think we should be grateful. I hate the gods, I hate this life. I thought maybe…maybe if I could just get rid of the bad ones and keep the good ones…maybe no one would ever have to go through what we did ever again. Even if what Mother was doing seemed bad, if she could just give us a little corner of the world to live in undisturbed once she'd taken over then…that wouldn't be too much for her, but it would be all that we needed._ "

" _You can't fix everything, Kaze. I'm sorry._ "

" _Why do_ you _have to do all of this?! Why do you have to…?_ "

" _Because if I don't someone else will have to, or no one else will ever have the chance._ "

His head dropped with a deep sigh of frustration. " _Why us? After everything we already had to go through, why did all of this have to be thrown onto_ us? _There are all these other demigods that could handle this. They had homes, friends, even family before this quest. But us? All we ever had was each other, and before that, nothing. And don't say the 'orphanage' was a home of any kind. I found a way to survive there, but I would've left in an instant if I could survive on my own. If I'd had my speed, maybe. Yet here we are, stuck in this mess again, completely aware of it, and_ still _going through with it, knowing all that we're losing in the end because of it. Why us?!_ "

He pounded the railing, his strength smashing in the wood just slightly, and lowered his head into his arms to sob. Neko was sitting on the railing, gently placing its paw on Kaze's arm.

" _Kaze…this is something I_ have _to do. If I don't, none of us knows what will happen. It's like trying to avoid a prophecy. No matter what I do, I'll end up fulfilling it. No one has ever avoided a prophecy before, big or small, and-_ "

" _They all should've tried_ harder _then! It would be easy for you to get out of this, just sit down and stay out of it all! But they_ always _have to be dragged in, but it's not because someone's forcing them. It's because they just can't stay put and let things happen on their own._ "

" _And if someone died because of that logic? If I just let dozens, if not_ hundreds _die just for my own needs?_ "

" _I know!_ " He snapped. " _Just because I hate what you're doing doesn't mean I don't…understand_ why _you're doing it. I think the fact that I understand is what makes it so hard to accept._ "

" _How do you think I feel? I'm terrified. I know that I'll have to do terrible things, go_ through _terrible things myself. I have to keep convincing myself that the ends justify the means, every second of every day. Everything that I've said to you to explain? I have to tell_ myself _that too. A while back, with the goddess inside me, it became easier to accept everything, to push aside my emotions. But now that she's so weakened, now that she's left me to be more of myself…I have my doubts, I have my fears. But that doesn't change anything. I still have to do this. There is so much more than just me and my feelings on the line here._ "

" _I know, I know. I won't try to stop you. But I will make you do this._ "

He looked up and turned to me.

" _You are going to help this goddess, do whatever the hell you have to, but after everything is all said and done, once she's safe and her husband's safe, and_ whatever _. After all this,_ you _are coming_ back! _Because you can't leave me alone…! You can't do that to me again…!_ "

He was crying harder, and I reached over to embrace him. As he fell against me, I lowered us to sit on the deck, laying against the railing. Neko hopped onto his shoulder as he cried against mine, gripping me tightly. I let him take his time, because I had a feeling that he hadn't had the chance to face all of his emotions in a long time. Soon, he was just sniffling and was simply relaxing against me, his grip loosening but not fully releasing. It hurt me to think that I was the one that had made him cry, that I was reminded of the fear that I'd made him face, and the abandonment.

He may have been in the body of a 15-year-old, but on the inside, he was still just that little nine-year-old I'd left behind all those years ago. But now, he was also broken and afraid. He wasn't an innocent kid anymore, but he was still just a kid. I didn't realize it, how happy and cheerful he was when he should've been scarred beyond repair. Maybe I didn't notice it because I didn't want to face any consequences of what I'd done. I didn't want to bring it up in case maybe it reminded him of what had happened. I wanted to see him happy like he had been, and since he was, since he acted as though nothing had happened, I…I went along with it.

" _I remember what death was like,_ " He muttered. " _I remember my broken, shattered soul going to Hades. Because I was so damaged that they didn't dare try and erase my memories, for risk of completely destroying me. Not that it really mattered; I was too broken to pose any risk, and I might as well have been without memories. I didn't speak, I didn't listen, and I didn't care. I remember being thrown into Asphodel, just sitting under this tree, letting eternity pass by. Others wandered around me; I heard the parties of Elysium, the screams of the Fields of Punishment, the crying in the Fields of Mourning, but I didn't care. I had been torn down from the inside out, driven to insanity and back_.

" _And the only reason I was even still there, that my soul hadn't been completely destroyed during those trials, is because I held onto the fact that I needed to save you. The goddess that did that to me, the one that made you kill me to allow it…you were still with her. And then suddenly, Mother woke me up. She mended my soul, said I was strong, that she would help me become stronger to help save you. A god killed my mom, a goddess made you kill me. I didn't want one to make you kill_ yourself _. I let her help me, I helped her, thought I could fight fire with fire. But even she only used me. I'm tired of the gods, I'm tired of all of this_.

" _I will let you do this, I will help you and your friends fight this war. But if you want to make up for what you did, all of this, whatever you do, whoever you hurt…to make all of this worth it, you need to come back in the end. And then, we leave this life, we leave the gods. We leave it_ all _behind. We go on the run again, or we settle down somewhere once we're old enough to be accepted as adults, I don't care. But we_ have _to leave this. All this life has brought us is pain. We can go and be normal, do whatever we want. We can fight monsters here and there, but no more quests, no more of the world resting on our shoulders -_ your  _shoulders. Just you, me, maybe Veon-san, but no more gods._ "

I sighed. " _That sounds…really nice. But it's impossible to escape this life forever. The faster you run, the faster it tries to catch up to you. The harder it hits you when it does._ "

" _Let the monsters come to us, but we won't go looking for them. Deal?_ "

" _Deal._ "

He nodded. " _Good. Cause if you don't come back…you'll leave Veon-san stuck with me. And he's not bad looking._ "

" _Hey, I saw him first! And he is 17, Kaze, nearly 18._ "

He shrugged. " _A Four year age gap becomes less important the older you get. And there's always Nico. He's cute too._ "

" _Okay, okay. I get the hint. I'll make sure to survive this ordeal and return to make sure you_ never _get a boyfriend._ "

He shoved me away. " _Hey!_ "

" _You asked for it, Ototo!_ "

He grabbed Neko and transformed him into a sphere, dropping him into his pocket before zooming away. I surged after him - even if the race was completely unfair without the goddess assisting my speed. I heard him giggling as he ran, and I managed to corner him into the mess hall. As he tried to zoom past me, I tackled him, catching him and then squeezing my arms around his waist to prevent him from slipping out of my grip, but his forward momentum and sudden stop caused us to topple over. I released him and we rolled apart, trying to catch out breaths from having the wind knocked out of us, but we stayed together on the floor.

All the while, we were laughing hysterically. We hadn't laughed like that in a long time. I once believed we never would again. I would come back for that laugh. I would come back to show my brother what it meant to be…okay. Things would never be perfect, but…okay was a lot. Okay was good enough. And I would come back for him, for that life he dreamed of.

Yes.

I would come back for that laugh.

* * *

The demigods gathered around the helm. Audrey was lying in a miniature version of her waterbed - more like a watercoffin, really - and was healing herself up quickly, along with a little ambrosia. I deemed Piper's shoulder merely sprained, ordering Jason to bandage it, while then taking a diagnosis of Nico. He was extremely weakened, malnourished, as well as mentally unstable from the traumatic experience. Hazel fed him some ambrosia, while Veon sat beside him trying to explain the whole soul bond situation, how he had been able to travel to Tartarus with Nico in spirit and that's how he'd gotten there but then disappeared, and how he'd given Nico his pomegranate seeds to give him more time. Nico could barely lift his head and his voice was so quiet Veon had to lean in whenever he spoke. He and Hazel looked very relieved yet also scared for Nico after finding him alive but so weakened. I tried to assist in recovering his mental state, but there was only so much I could do on short notice.

Frank, Emily, and Leo recounted what had happened in the room with the Archimedes spheres, and the visions Gaea had showed them in the bronze mirror (Kaze just sitting at the table playing with Neko since he couldn't understand). I checked them out for any injuries, but it seemed that Emily's new healing fire abilities were spot on, all of them having been healed, and at the worst, Emily was drained from her new usage of her power - nothing a little ambrosia wasn't able to fix during their trip to rescue us from the Colosseum match. We quickly decided that their best lead for finding Annabeth was the cryptic advice Bacchus had provided: the Emmanuel Building, whatever that was. Frank started typing at the helm's computer while Leo tapped furiously at his controls, muttering "Emmanuel Building. Emmanuel Building." Coach Hedge tried to help by wrestling with an upside-down street map of Rome - which Emily eventually had to confiscate because he was getting pretty upset with it.

I eventually offered up some help, as my Curse seemed to still be alive, even if her signal was significantly weakened. "I sent in a Curse with my new powers from Styx to aid Annabeth in her quest, or at the very least look out for her. She has the ability to work around prophecies, and through technicalities keep them on track even with her intervention. She's assisted in Annabeth's mission just a small bit, but most of it relies on Annabeth, as my Curse has very little power. I'm working on improving the technique as a skill to aid Camp Half-Blood in the war. I should be able to track her signal and find the easiest way to get to them."

Percy knelt next to Jason and Piper. "How's the shoulder?"

Piper smiled. "It'll heal. All of you did great."

Jason elbowed Percy. "Not a bad team, you and me."

"Better than jousting in a Kansas cornfield," Percy agreed.

"Although I say I outrank  _both_  of you," Audrey popped in. "Considering I held them  _both_  back at the same time."

"And we handled the evil undead immortal reanimations," Veon added. "We took down a hydra and Kaze, not to mention doing our fair share against the giants. So I think Zy and I outrank  _all y'all_."

"There it is!" Leo cried, pointing to his monitor. "You guys are amazing! I'm setting course."

Frank hunched his shoulders. "I just read the name off the screen. Some Chinese tourist marked it on Google Maps."

"And they went into detail, huh?" I muttered.

Leo grinned at the others. "They read Chinese."

"Just a tiny bit," Frank said.

"Not that it's very fun," I added. "Imagine learning English letters and Japanese kanji for the first few years of your life, and then having to learn Russian weirdness and Chinese kanji at the next part of your life! I can read Russian better than I can speak it, but Chinese was just a pain considering my Japanese is technically my second language and learning  _both_  of those languages from scratch, from no matter how young an age, is hard."

"You're amazing," Veon said.

"How cool is that?" Leo mused.

"Guys," Hazel broke in. "I hate to interrupt your admiration session, but you should hear this."

She helped Nico to his feet. He'd always been pale, but now his skin looked like powdered milk. His dark sunken eyes reminded me of photos I'd seen of liberated prisoners-of-war, which I guess Nico basically was. I reached to put my hand to his forehead and sent my healing energy through, but the damage was more than I could take in my weakened state. After all, I'd already gone through one of my desperation power boost sessions and had only had a few quick heals of ambrosia - nothing that would instantly restore me to full health. At the very least, I put a dent in his pain, and with a small gasp he flinched and began to take deep breaths, his mind and body cleared if just slightly. I pulled my hand away, and he nodded in thanks before facing the group, his eyes darting around nervously, clearly not comfortable with so many eyes on him.

"Thank you," Nico rasped. "I'd given up hope."

"You knew about the two camps all along," Percy said, much more gently than previously expected. With Nico looking so frail and sad, I'd imagine that he didn't have it in him to say the scathing words he'd had planned previously. "You could have told me who I was the first day I arrived at Camp Jupiter, but you didn't."

"All of us could have," Veon stepped in. "We were sent specifically to look after you in your memory loss while you were at the Roman camp, but we knew we couldn't reveal the truth, at least not instantly."

"We apologize for that, once more," Emily said, her guilt for the event far more than the normal person would be expected to have in an apology. It made Emily very hard to hold any anger towards, and it made you want to comfort her or at the very least tell her to not be so serious about things.

Nico slumped against the helm. "Percy, I'm sorry. I discovered Camp Jupiter last year. My dad led me there, though I wasn't sure why. He told me the gods had kept the camps separate for centuries and that I couldn't tell anyone. When Zyanya ordered me to take the others there and informed me of this plan, I understood that the time wasn't right. But he said it would be important for me to know…"

Nico was interrupted as he doubled over in a fit of coughing. Veon and Hazel held his shoulders, and I reached forward to send some soothing energy to his throat. It was much easier than healing all of his wounds and pain, and so it only took a few moments for his coughs to die down and for him to stand on his own again.

"I - I thought Dad meant because of Hazel," Nico continued. "I'd need a safe place to take her. But now…I think he wanted me to know about both camps so I'd understand how important your quest was, and so I'd search for the Doors of Death."

The air turned electric - literally, as Jason started throwing off sparks. I put my hand on his shoulder to absorb the electricity for power as well as calm Jason's tension.

"Did you find the doors?" Percy asked.

Veon nodded. "Thanks to the weird soul bond that happened between us, I helped Nico search and we managed to find them."

"When was that?" Audrey asked.

"In my dreams. At first, I didn't think it was real. But I had multiple dreams in a row that stayed with proper continuity. To Nico, it seemed that no time had passed, or maybe we had taken a break and I woke up just at the end of it so that we could keep going."

"I was a fool," Nico spat. "I thought I could go anywhere in the Underworld, but I walked right into Gaea's trap, and nearly dragged Veon along with me, even though he warned me that maybe we should be careful about things. We might as well have tried running from a black hole. The only reason Veon wasn't in that jar with me too was because his spirit managed to return to his body before it was too late."

Frank chewed his lip. "Um…what kind of black hole are you talking about?"

Nico started to speak, but whatever he needed to say must've been too terrifying.

Veon put his hand on Nico's shoulder. "Let's just say that it's really bad. Really… _really_  bad. But the important thing is that the Doors of Death have two sides - one in the mortal world, one in the Underworld. The  _mortal_ side of the portal is in Greece, heavily guarded by Gaea's forces. That's where they brought Nico back into the upper world before they transported him to Rome."

Piper must've been nervous, because her cornucopia spit out a cheeseburger. "Where exactly in Greece is this doorway?"

Nico took a rattling breath. "The House of Hades. It's an underground temple in Epirus. I can mark it on a map, but…but the mortal side of the portal isn't the problem. In the Underworld, the Doors of Death are in…in…"

Emily put her hand on Nico's forehead, forcing him to close his eyes and take a deep breath. "Take it easy, Nico. We understand. You're safe now, okay? Just breathe. It's in the past. Don't let it hurt you anymore."

He nodded, allowing Emily to help keep his emotions under control.

"It's in Tartarus," Veon finished. "The deepest part of the Underworld."

Nico nodded. "They pulled me into the pit. The things I saw down there…"

His voice broke, and he shook the thought away, Emily helping him suppress the bad feelings.

Hazel pursed her lips. "No mortal has ever been to Tartarus. At least, no one has ever gone in and returned alive. It's the maximum-security prison of Hades, where the old Titans and the other enemies of the gods are bound. It's where all monsters go when they die on the earth. It's…well, no one knows exactly what it's like."

Her eyes drifted to her brother. The rest of her thought didn't need to be spoken:  _No one except Nico_.

"It's…it's terrible," Veon muttered. "The only reason Nico made it back here is because Gaea  _wanted_  him to."

Hazel handed Nico his black sword, and he leaned on it like it was an old man's cane. "Now I understand why Hades hasn't been able to close the doors. Even the gods don't go into Tartarus. Even the god of death, Thanatos himself, wouldn't go near that place."

Leo glanced over from the wheel. "So let me guess. We'll have to go down there."

Nico shook his head. "It's impossible. I'm the son of Hades, and even I barely survived. Gaea's forces overwhelmed me instantly. They're so powerful down there…no demigod would stand a chance. I almost went insane."

Nico's eyes looked like shattered glass, and Emily winced in pain, Audrey instantly at her side. I knew that Nico would never be the same, and even time wouldn't be able to heal him completely. Something inside him had broken completely beyond repair.

"Then we'll sail for Epirus," Percy said. "We'll just close the gates on this side."

"I wish it were that easy," I said. "The doors would have to be controlled on both sides to be closed."

"Maybe, just maybe, all 12 of you working together could defeat Gaea's forces on the mortal side, at the House of Hades," Nico continued. "But unless you had a team fighting simultaneously on the Tartarus side, a team powerful enough to defeat a legion of monsters in their home territory-"

"There  _has_  to be a way," Jason said.

"I can do it," I declared, and everyone's eyes turned to me (except Kaze's since he was dealing with Neko trying to climb up his sleeve).

"You?" Frank asked.

"On your own?" Audrey added.

"Not alone," I corrected. "Zyanya will be with me."

"Look, I know she's powerful, but she's still just one goddess," Hazel said.

"Zyanya is merely the name I gave her. As she travels from host to host, she changes her name to accommodate her host's desires. I named her Zyanya. Her  _true_  name, however, is Primordial Order."

Everyone seemed to do a double take.

"Wait, like  _Order?_ " Leo repeated. "Like with a capital O? The ancient being that came before  _all_  the gods and their messed up family?"

"Yes."

"Well why didn't you say so  _before?!_  With a powerhouse like that on our side, this war should be no problem!"

"If it were that simple, there wouldn't be a war in the first place. Order has a husband - Chaos, naturally - but Gaea and Tartarus worked long ago to disable him, in turn unbalancing the scales and causing Order to be affected as well."

"Wouldn't killing Chaos be, like, shooting themselves in the foot?" Percy asked. "Shouldn't Chaos be on _their_ side?"

I shook my head. "Chaos and Order aren't that clear-cut. They didn't care what happened on earth, whether the Titans were ruling, or the gods, or the humans. They wouldn't have even  _participated_  in this war had they not been directly attacked as a result of it. With Chaos out of commission, things are very unstable, Order in particular. Gaea started this war and began waking for a  _reason_. Tartarus began his plan by taking Chaos by surprise, in turn stirring Gaea and affecting Order. She's weakening, fading. At the moment, Order's life is sustaining Chaos's by a thread - as long as she's alive, he's alive. But they've been torturing and draining Chaos ever since he was beaten and taken down, sucking down Order's life force as well. At that rate, she wouldn't be to sustain the both of them, and eventually, she'd be taken down as well, and nothing would be able to keep them from being killed.

"My mother took her in as a host to keep her going, because if Order falls, both her and Chaos will be able to be killed by Gaea and Tartarus. But…my mom…she only lasted until about…about five years ago. Nearly six. And then…Order was passed on to me. And she tasked me with finding a host for Chaos, to rescue him with."

I turned to look at Veon.

"And I found him," I finished, trying to keep the sadness out of my voice and make it sound more like a surprising miracle.

"So you're saying that if you guys can get Chaos back, you'll be able to close the Doors of Death on the Tartarus side?" Jason summed up.

I nodded. "We'd have to go down to Tartarus to rescue Chaos, but if we can manage that, we  _should_  be able to pull it off. We restore Chaos, and he  _won't_  be taken by surprise if Tartarus attempts to take him down again. I'd imagine he'd be mega pissed and eager to ruin his and Gaea's plans, starting with closing the Doors of Death."

"Are you sure you guys should go alone?" Emily asked. "You built our team for a reason, right? We should come with as backup."

"No. You have to stay up here and help the crew get to the House of Hades and close the doors on  _this_  side. It's going to be just as hard, if not harder, especially with those reanimations on the loose as well. You know my Curses that I told you about? I'll keep some of them with you to assist as well, and help with the war between the Camps. Getting to Chaos isn't like getting to the Doors of Death. There's no way to guard him or to contain him in some cage. The moment we enter Tartarus we should be able to find him with little effort. His essence has been spread thin across Tartarus to weaken him and make him more fragile. After that, taking back the Doors should be easy."

"Then I'll do it," Veon said.

"Veon, taking Primordial Chaos will be worse than anything you can imagine. Not to mention Tartarus is going to be fighting for custody of you in place of Chaos."

 _Child of Hades, beware the Pit. Should you fall, you will be one with it_.

He took a deep breath. "If I gave up just because I was afraid, then that would just be shameful. We're  _all_  afraid, here. We've  _all_  got important roles to play, and we're  _all_  going to have to go through our own trials to do it. I'll play my part; I'll fight my hardest. And I'll go through things that I…really might not want to, just like everyone else."

I cringed inside, hearing him say that. He had no idea what he was facing, what kind of trials that he would have to go through. Kaze was nearly destroyed by the trials - not just in body, but in soul and mind. Just because Veon was supposedly worthy didn't comfort me, as Zyanya had once told me that Kaze was worthy too. Sure, Zyanya had told me that Veon's soul and will were stronger than most, but he seemed too…innocent. And contrary to Kaze, he was also confident in himself and his abilities. Perhaps that would make him even more unprepared for what was to happen.

"Then…uh…it's decided," I mustered.

At first, I thought my stomach was sinking from dread, but then I realized the entire ship was descending towards a big building like a palace. Annabeth, that's right. Back to the matter at hand. I could sense my Curse was close, meaning so was Annabeth, but they still seemed to be underground.

"Is that the Emmanuel Building?" Percy asked.

Leo nodded. "Bacchus said something about the parking lot in back? Well, there it is. What now?"

It wasn't hard to figure out that Annabeth was trapped down there with the mother of all spiders - quite literally - and for hours with her broken leg couldn't be good. Even my Curse was low on power. I'd need to resolve that issue and make them self-generating. Percy seemed to have figured out the same conclusion about Annabeth, and didn't seem to care whether the quest was solo or not at this point.

In all honesty, the Athena Parthenos was very easy to find. had someone just known about this parking lot. Come to think of it, why did  _Bacchus_  know about this place? If the statue was just under there, that should've been  _much_  easier to locate had Athena done her research. Instead, she unconsciously made the Mark of Athena, forced tons of her kids to go on a stupid scavenger hunt and die from it, when it really was circumstantially simple to retrieve.

"Athena, when you get your head in gear, you better go kick that wine god in the-"

"We have to get her out," Percy interrupted.

"Well, yeah," Leo agreed. "But, uh…"

He looked like he wanted to say, ' _What if we're too late?_ '

Wisely, he changed tack. "There's a parking lot in the way."

Audrey looked to Coach Hedge. "Didn't Bacchus say something about  _breaking through?_  Coach, you still have ammo for those ballistae?"

The satyr grinned like a wild goat. "I thought you'd never ask."


	41. The Art of Crafting Chinese Spidercuffs

Third Person: Curse

Annabeth had reached her terror limit. She'd been assaulted by chauvinist ghosts, she'd broken her ankle, she'd been chased across a chasm by an army of spiders, and now she was left in severe pain, her ankle wrapped in boards and Bubble Wrap, carrying no weapon except her dagger with Curse little help facing Arachne - a monstrous half-spider who wanted to kill her and make a commemorative tapestry about it. In the last few hours, Annabeth had shivered, sweated, whimpered, and blinked back so many tears that her body simply gave up on being scared. Her mind said something like, ' _Okay, sorry. I can't be any more terrified than I already am._ '

So instead, Annabeth started to think.

The monstrous creature picked her way down from the top of the web-covered statue. She moved from strand to strand, hissing with pleasure, her four eyes glittering in the dark. Either she was not in a hurry, or she was slow. Annabeth hoped she was slow. Not that it mattered. Annabeth was in no condition to run, and she didn't like her chances in combat. Arachne probably had other horrible powers - a poisonous bite, or web-slinging abilities like an Ancient Greek Spider-Man. No, combat was definitely not the answer.

That left trickery and brains. Not that it wasn't an uncommon method that they had been forced to use in the past on numerous occasions. In fact, it seemed to play a role in most of the battles they'd fought. In the old legends, Arachne had gotten into trouble because of pride. She'd bragged about her tapestries being better than Athena's, which had led to Mount Olympus's first reality TV punishment program:  _So You Think You Can Weave Better Than a Goddess?_  Arachne had lost in a big way. Annabeth knew something about being prideful. It was  _her_  fatal flaw as well. She often had to remind herself that she couldn't do everything alone. She wasn't  _always_  the best person for every job. Sometimes she got tunnel vision and forgot about what other people needed, even Percy. And she could get easily distracted talking about her favorite projects. But could she use that weakness against the spider?

" _Help shall come,_ " Curse assured her. " _You must stall. Pride is easy to exploit. Her work is clearly her weakness. A child of Athena, her greatest enemy, speaking well of her. That will be too much for her to ignore._ "

Annabeth tried to keep her expression calm, which wasn't easy with a broken ankle. She limped towards the nearest tapestry - a cityscape of Ancient Rome.

"Marvelous," She said. "Tell me about this tapestry."

Arachne's lips curled over her mandibles. "Why do you care? You're about to die."

"Well, yes," Annabeth said. "But the way you captured the light is amazing. Did you use real golden thread for the sunbeams?"

The weaving truly  _was_  stunning. Annabeth didn't have to pretend to be impressed.

Arachne allowed herself a smug smile. "No, child. Not gold. I blended the colors, contrasting bright yellow with darker hues. That's what gives it a three-dimensional effect."

"Beautiful."

Annabeth's mind split into two different levels: one carrying on the conversation, the other madly grasping for a scheme to survive. Nothing came to her. Arachne had been beaten only once - by Athena herself, and that had taken godly magic and incredible skill in a weaving contest.

"So…did you see this scene yourself?"

Arachne hissed, her mouth foaming in a not-very-attractive way. "You are trying to delay your death. It won't work."

" _The only one here capable of defeating her is herself,_ " Curse informed her. " _Why does she hate Athena? What is her goal? What does she want the most? And how can you, at the least, pretend to offer it to her?_ "

"No, no," Annabeth insisted to Arachne. "It just seems a shame that these beautiful tapestries can't be seen by everyone. They belong in a museum, or…"

"Or what?" Arachne asked.

A crazy idea sprang fully formed from Annabeth's mind, like her mom jumping out of Zeus's noggin. But could she make it work?

"Nothing," Annabeth said, sighing wistfully. "It's a silly thought. Too bad."

Arachne scuttled down the statue until she was perched atop the goddess's shield. Even from that distance, Annabeth could smell the spider's stink, like an entire bakery full of pastries left to go bad for a month.

"What?" The spider pressed. "What silly thought?"

Annabeth had to force herself not to back away. Broken ankle or no, every nerve in her body pulsed with fear, telling her to get away from the huge spider hovering over her.

" _Act as though there is nothing left to lose,_ " Curse advised. " _Relax your muscles. Your fear response is a means of self-preservation. Lose your concentration on surviving and focus more on your need to impress her._ "

Annabeth tried to take a deep breath without letting her fear show. She tried to take Curses' advice, forgetting about the fear and focusing on her plan.

"Oh…it's just that I was put in charge of redesigning Mount Olympus. You know, after the Titan War. I've completed most of the work, but we need a lot of quality public art. The throne room of the gods, for instance…I was thinking your work would be perfect to display there. The Olympians could finally see how talented you are. As I said, it was a silly thought."

Arachne's hairy abdomen quivered. Her four eyes glimmered as if she had a separate thought behind each and was trying to weave them into a coherent web.

"You're redesigning Mount Olympus," She repeated. "My work…in the throne room."

"Well, other places too," Annabeth said. "The main pavilion could use several of these. That one with the Greek landscape - the Nine Muses would love that. And I'm sure the other gods would be fighting over your work as well. They'd compete to have your tapestries in their palaces. I guess, aside from Athena, none of the gods has ever seen what you can do?"

Arachne snapped her mandibles. "Hardly. In the old days, Athena tore up all my best work. My tapestries depicted the gods in rather unflattering ways, you see. Your mother didn't appreciate that."

"Rather hypocritical, since the gods make fun of each other all the time. I think the trick would be to pit one god against another. Ares, for instance, would  _love_  a tapestry making fun of my mother. He's always resented Athena."

Arachne's head tilted at an unnatural angle. "You would work against your own mother?"

"I'm just telling you what Ares would like. And Zeus would love something that made fun of Poseidon. Oh, I'm sure if the Olympians saw your work, they'd realize how amazing you are, and I'd have to broker a bidding war. As for working against my mother, why shouldn't I? She sent me here to die, didn't she? The last time I saw her in New York, she basically disowned me."

Annabeth told her the story. She shared her bitterness and sorrow, and it must've sounded genuine, as the spider didn't pounce. Annabeth had to admit that some of it was true, how annoying it was that her mother just sent her here where many other of her previous kinsman had died, how she had just spat in Annabeth's face about her showing sympathy for Romans meant that she was no daughter of hers. It was times like these where it was a win-win in letting out her true feelings and having them genuine enough to convince the enemy.

"This is Athena's nature," Arachne hissed. "She casts aside even her own daughter. The goddess would never allow my tapestries to be shown in the palaces of the gods. She was always jealous of me."

"But imagine if you could get your revenge at long last."

"By killing you!"

"I suppose." Annabeth scratched her head. "Or…by letting me be your agent. I could get your work into Mount Olympus. I could arrange an exhibition for the gods. By the time my mother found out, it would be too late. The Olympians would finally  _see_  that your work is better."

"Then you admit it!" Arachne cried. "A daughter of Athena admits I am better! Oh, this is sweet to my ears."

Annabeth remembered what Veon had told her back at Camp Half-Blood when someone had made a comment about how Nico and Veon were so different, both being sons of Hades, but one being a lot more friendly than the other.

" _Nico and I aren't that much different,_ " Veon had said. " _Nico sees himself as a scary guy, he feels as though he's unwanted by others, and that he doesn't fit in. In turn, that thought process is what makes him into the scary guy that he is. He fits the personality that he believes everyone sees him as, and then that ends up_ being _what the world sees him as. It's a paradox, all right. Me? I see myself as the kind of guy who's scary and dark, sure. But I realized a while ago that there are others in the same position as me, and that I'm not alone. I take pride in who I am. If others don't like it, that's their problem. It's all in the eye of the beholder, I guess you could say. We all want to believe that we're appreciated or seen as something specific, but we don't realize that all we have to do to feel that way is just let_ ourselves _see us that way. Anyone else is just bonus._ "

"All these legends paint you as some kind of monster that lost the contest because she was worse than Athena. You're not some monster, not unless  _you_  believe that. However you see yourself, that's how the world's going to see you. It's easy to see that you're clearly the best weaver, but no one else has been able to see the truth behind all those rumors and gossip that my mother spread, no one's ever seen  _your_  side of the story, at least no one besides me. I'd love for others to see it, especially the gods, and I'll be the first to say that you're better than my own mother. Sadly, a lot of good it does you. If I die down here, you go on living in the dark. Gaea destroys the gods and they never realize you were the better weaver."

The spider hissed. Annabeth was afraid her mother might suddenly appear and curse her with some terrible affliction. The first lesson of every child of Athena learned: Mom was the best at everything and you should never,  _ever_  suggest otherwise. But nothing happened. Maybe Athena understood that Annabeth was only saying these things to save her life. Or maybe Athena was in such bad shape, split between her Greek and Roman personalities, that she wasn't even paying attention. If Athena  _could_  come down here for her statue that she'd spent centuries searching for, all problems would be solved. So obviously that wasn't the case.

"This will not do," Arachne grumbled. "I cannot allow it."

"Well…"

Annabeth shifted, trying to keep her weight off her throbbing ankle. A new crack appeared in the floor, and she hobbled back.

"Careful!" Arachne snapped. "The foundations of this shrine had been eaten away over the centuries!"

Annabeth's heartbeat faltered. "Eaten away?"

"You have no idea how much hatred boils beneath us. The spiteful thoughts of  _so_  many monsters trying to reach the Athena Parthenos and destroy it. My webbing is the only thing holding the room together, girl! One false step, and you'll fall all the way to Tartarus - and believe me, unlike the Doors of Death, this would be a one-way trip, a very hard fall! I will  _not_  have you dying before you tell me your plan for my artwork."

Annabeth's mouth tasted like rust.  _All the way to Tartarus?_  She tried to stay focused, but it wasn't easy as she listened to the floor creak and crack, spilling rubble into the void below.

"Right, the plan," Annabeth said. "Um…as I said, I'd  _love_  to take your tapestries to Olympus and hang them everywhere. You could rub your craftsmanship in Athena's nose for all eternity. But the only way I could do that…no. It's too difficult. You might as well go ahead and kill me."

"No!" Arachne cried. "That is unacceptable. It no longer brings me any pleasure to contemplate. I must have my work on Mount Olympus! What must I do?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. Just push me into Tartarus or something."

"I refuse!"

"Don't be ridiculous. Kill me."

"I do not take orders from you! Tell me what I must do! Or…or-"

"Or you'll kill me?"

"Yes! No!" The spider pressed her front legs against her head. "I  _must_  show my work on Mount Olympus."

Annabeth tried to contain her excitement. Her plan might actually work…but she still had to convince Arachne to do something impossible. She remembered some good advice Frank Zhang had given her:  _Keep it simple_.

"I suppose I could pull a few strings," She conceded.

"I excel at pulling strings!" Said Arachne. "I'm a spider!"

"Yes, but to get your work shown on Mount Olympus, we'd need a proper audition. I'd have to pitch the idea, submit a proposal, put together a portfolio. Hmm…do you have any headshots?"

"Headshots?"

"Glossy black-and-white…oh, nevermind. The audition piece is the most important thing. These tapestries are excellent. But the gods would require something  _really_  special - something that shows off your talent in the extreme."

Arachne snarled. "Are you suggesting that these are not my best work? Are you challenging me to a contest?"

"Oh, no!" Annabeth laughed. "Against me? Gosh, no. You are  _much_  too good. It would only be a contest against  _yourself_ , to see if you really have what it takes to show your work on Mount Olympus."

"Of course I do!"

"Well, I certainly think so. But the audition, you know…it's a formality. I'm afraid it would be very difficult. Are you sure you don't just want to kill me?"

"Stop saying that!" Arachne screeched. "What must I make?"

"I'll show you."

Annabeth unslung her backpack. She took out Daedalus's laptop and opened it, the delta logo glowing in the dark.

"What is that?" Arachne asked. "Some sort of loom?"

"In a way," Annabeth said. "It's for weaving  _ideas_. It holds a diagram of the artwork you would build."

Her fingers trembled on the keyboard. Arachne lowered herself to peer directly over Annabeth's shoulder. Annabeth couldn't help thinking how easily those needle-like teeth could sink into her neck. She opened her 3-D imaging program. Her last design was still up - the key to Annabeth's plan, inspired by the most unlikely muse ever: Frank Zhang. Annabeth did some quick calculations. She increased the dimensions of the model, then showed Arachne how it could be created - strands of the material woven into strips, then braided into a long cylinder.  _Giant's Bane stands gold and pale; won through pain from a woven jail_. The others had discussed that there were two ways the second half of that line could be interpreted - Annabeth would have to escape some kind of woven jail, or she'd have to make one. Or, more accurately,  _Arachne_ would have to make one. At the very least, she knew she was on the right track.

The golden light from the screen illuminated the spider's face. "You want me to make that? But this is nothing! So small and simple!"

"The actual size would be much bigger," Annabeth cautioned. "You see these measurements? Naturally it must be large enough to impress the gods. The simplest things can actually be quite complex if you look closely enough. While at first glance, this seems like a very simple design, it is actually quite hard to perfect. It may look very basic, but the structure has incredible properties. Your spider silk would be the perfect material - soft and flexible, yet hard as steel."

"I see…" Arachne frowned. "But this isn't even a tapestry."

"That's why it's a challenge. It's outside your comfort zone. A piece like this - an abstract sculpture - is what the gods are looking for. It would stand in the entry hall of the Olympian throne room for every visitor to see. You would be famous forever!"

Arachne made a discontented hum in her throat. Annabeth could tell she wasn't going for the idea. Her hands started to feel cold and sweaty.

"This would take a great deal of web," The spider complained. "More than I could make in a year."

Annabeth had been hoping for that. She'd calculated the mass and size accordingly. "You'd need to unravel the statue," She explained. "Reuse the silk."

Arachne seemed about to object, but Annabeth waved at the Athena Parthenos like it was nothing. "What's more important - covering that old statue or proving your artwork is the best? Of course, you'd have to be incredibly careful. You'd need to leave enough webbing to hold the room together. And if you think it's too difficult-"

"I didn't say that!"

"Okay. It's just…Athena said that creating this braided structure, especially in less than a day, would be impossible for any weaver, even her. So if you don't think you can-"

"Athena said that?"

"Well, yeah."

"Ridiculous! I can do it!"

"Great! But you'd need to start right away, before the Olympians chose another artist for their installations."

Arachne growled. "If you are tricking me, girl-"

"You'll have me right here as a hostage," Annabeth reminded her. "It's not like I can go anywhere. Once this sculpture is complete, you'll agree that it's the most amazing piece you've ever done. If not, I will gladly die."

Arachne hesitated. Her barbed legs were so close, she could've impaled Annabeth with a quick swipe.

"Fine," The spider said. "One last challenge - against myself!"

Arachne climbed her web and began to unravel the Athena Parthenos.

Annabeth lost track of time. She could feel the ambrosia she'd eaten earlier starting to repair her leg, but it still hurt so badly that the pain throbbed right up to her neck. All along the walls, small spiders scuttled in the darkness, as if awaiting their mistress's orders. Thousands of them rustled behind the tapestries, making the woven scenes move like the wind. She had this bad feeling that there was more hidden in the darkness that she couldn't see, more than just mere spiders to worry about. But Arachne was busy with her project, and so she wasn't giving a command to attack yet.

Annabeth sat on the crumbling floor and tried to preserve her strength. While Arachne wasn't watching, she attempted to get some sort of signal on Daedalus's laptop to contact her friends, but of course she had no luck. Curse promised that help was coming, but with her weakened state, Annabeth worried that if she was trying to put out a signal, it wasn't going to be enough, or at the very least, it was going to take a long time for the others to pick up. That left her nothing to do but watch in amazement and horror as Arachne worked, her eight legs moving with hypnotic speed, slowly unraveling the silk strands around the statue.

With its golden clothes and its luminous ivory face, the Athena Parthenos was even scarier than Arachne. It gazed down sternly as if to say  _Bring me tasty snacks or else_. Annabeth could imagine being an Ancient Greek, walking into the Parthenon and seeing this massive goddess with her shield, spear, and python, her free hand holding out Nike, the winged spirits of victory. It would've been enough to put a kink in the chiton of any mortal. More than that, the statue radiated power. As Athena was unwrapped, the air around her grew warmer, her ivory skin glowed with life. All across the room, the smaller spiders became agitated and began retreating back into the hallway. Annabeth guessed that Arachne's webs had somehow masked and dampened the statue's magic. Now that it was free, the Athena Parthenos filled the chamber with magical energy. Centuries of mortal prayers and burnt offerings had been made in its presence. It was infused with the power of Athena.

Arachne didn't seem to notice. She kept muttering to herself, counting out yards of silk and calculating the number of strands her project would require. Whenever she hesitated, Annabeth called out encouragement and reminded her how wonderful her tapestries would look on Mount Olympus. The statue grew so warm and bright that Annabeth could see more details of the shrine - the Roman masonry that had probably once been gleaming white, the dark bones of Arachne's past victims and meals hanging in the web, and the massive cables of silk that connected the floor to the ceiling. Annabeth now saw just how fragile the marble tiles were under her feet. They were covered in a fine layer of webbing, like mesh holding together a shattered mirror. Whenever the Athena Parthenos shifted even slightly, more cracks spread and widened along the floor. In some places, there were holes as big as manhole covers. Annabeth almost wished it were dark again. Even if her plan succeeded and she defeated Arachne, she wasn't sure how she could make it out of this chamber alive.

And she thought these thoughts  _before_  she noticed the two humanoid figures sitting on some of the webbing. One was a woman and the other a man, each sitting upon the webbing on either side of the room and both staring down at her with blank and black stares. They almost seemed to be sitting in a casual way, not necessarily waiting to pounce at a moment's notice, but their faces were too stoic and blank to seem as though they were doing this for a sadistic or pleasurable intent. It reminded Annabeth of how Zy would sit up in the trees back at Camp Half-Blood, just watching the camp as the day went by, lost in thought and enjoying the silence of being left alone. But these two each had black sclera, accentuating the colors of their eyes in a very dark way, and their porcelain-like skin was cracked, completing the living-dead blank and emotionless faces that had their unblinking gazes upon Annabeth.

They looked to only be statues, completely unmoving, but they were very unnerving. It was like one of those clocks with cat eyes that seemed to be staring at you constantly, unblinking. It was only when the two of their head turned to look towards each other in sync that she realized they were alive, and nearly jumped out of her skin again. Being scared over a long period of time got old, and Annabeth's body seemed used to it at that point, but that surprise got her like no jumpscare had since she'd gotten there.

Annabeth realized that they didn't  _want_  to attack her, and they didn't seem to want anything, and they weren't overeager to strike. Only Arachne's command would make them attack, but if Annabeth succeeded in trapping Arachne, she'd still be able to shout out commands, and that would be that. Still, Annabeth's chances of surviving were low anyway. At the very least, she might be able to trap Arachne and hope that her friends would come for the statue.

"So much silk," Arachne muttered. "I could make twenty tapestries-"

"Keep going!" Annabeth called up. "You're doing a wonderful job."

The spider kept working. After what seemed like forever, a mountain of glistening silk was piled at the feet of the statue. The walls of the chamber were still covered in webs, the support cables holding the room together hadn't been disturbed, but the Athena Parthenos was free.

 _Please, wake up_ , Annabeth begged the statue.  _Mother, help me_.

Nothing happened, but the cracks seemed to be spreading across the floor more rapidly. According to Arachne, the malicious thoughts of monsters had eaten away at the shrine's foundations for centuries. If that was true, now that it was free the Athena Parthenos might be attracting even more attention from the monsters in Tartarus. The woman sitting up in the webbing put her finger to her lips in a silencing way, and the cracks seemed to die down. Annabeth could only assume that meant she had some ability to control the monsters in Tartarus. And that she wanted to keep the statue, Arachne, and maybe even Annabeth from falling below. But that could change at any moment - especially if she realized Annabeth had a plan in mind. Neither of them looked like they had much of a brain, but they were definitely there for a reason, and considering they both kept their gazes upon Annabeth, it gave the impression that they were waiting for Annabeth to do something, good or bad, and they would act upon it.

"The design," Annabeth said. "You should hurry."

She lifted the computer screen for Arachne to see, but the spider snapped, "I've memorized it, child. I have an artist's eye for detail."

"Of course you do. But we should hurry."

"Why?"

" _Because we must introduce your work to the world as soon as possible,_ " Curse advised.

Annabeth recited the line, and Arachne merely replied, "Hmm. Very well."

Arachne began to weave. It was slow work, turning silk strands into long strips of cloth. The chamber rumbled, the cracks at Annabeth's feet becoming wider. Just because the monsters of Tartarus were quieted, it didn't make the structural integrity of the room any more stable. If Arachne noticed, she didn't seem to care. Annabeth considered trying to push the spider into the pit somehow, but she dismissed the idea. There wasn't a big enough hole, and besides, if the floor gave way, Arachne could probably hang from her silk and escape, while Annabeth and the ancient statue would tumble into Tartarus.

Slowly, Arachne finished the long strips of silk and braided them together. Her skill was flawless, and Annabeth couldn't help being impressed. She felt another flicker of doubt about her own mother. What if Arachne  _was_  a better weaver than Athena? But Arachne's skill wasn't the point. She had been punished for being prideful and rude. No matter how amazing you were, you couldn't go around insulting the gods. Sure, they had their own flaws, and Annabeth knew them much better than most, but the Olympians were a reminder that there was  _always_  someone better than you, so you shouldn't get a big head. Still…being turned into a monstrous immortal spider seemed like a pretty harsh punishment for bragging. Then again, it wasn't as though Annabeth couldn't understand how angry you could get when someone was bragging about their own skill being better than your own.

Arachne worked more quickly, bringing the strands together, and soon, the structure was done. At the feet of the statue lay a braided cylinder of silk strips, five feet in diameter and ten feet long. The surface glistened like abalone shell, but it didn't seem beautiful to Annabeth. It was just functional: a trap. It would only be beautiful if it worked.

Arachne turned to her with a hungry smile. "Done! Now, my reward! Prove to me that you can deliver on your promises."

Annabeth studied the trap. She frowned and walked around it, inspecting the weaving from every angle. Then, careful of her bad ankle, she got down on her hands and knees and crawled inside. She'd done the measurements in her head. If she'd gotten them wrong, her plan was doomed. But she slipped through the silken tunnel without touching the sides. The webbing was sticky, but not impossibly so. She crawled out the other end and shook her head.

"There's a flaw," She said.

"What?!" Arachne cried. "Impossible! I followed your instructions-"

"Inside," Annabeth said. "Crawl in and see for yourself. It's right in the middle - a flaw in the weaving."

Arachne foamed at the mouth. Annabeth was afraid she'd pushed too hard, and the spider would snap her up. She'd be just another set of bones in the cobwebs.

"Don't worry, it's small. You can probably fix it. But I don't want to show the gods anything but your best work. Look, go inside and check. If you can fix it, then we'll show it to the Olympians. You'll be the most famous artist of all time. They'll probably fire the Nine Muses and hire you to oversee all the arts. The goddess Arachne…yes, I wouldn't be surprised."

"The goddess…" Arachne's breathing turned shallow. "Yes, yes. I will fix this flaw." She poked her head into the tunnel. "Where is it?"

"Right in the middle," Annabeth urged. "Go ahead. It might be a bit snug for you."

"I'm fine!" She snapped, and wriggled in.

As Annabeth had hoped, the spider's abdomen fit, but only barely. As she pushed her way in, the braided strips of silk expanded to accommodate her. Arachne got all the way up to her spinnerets.

"I see no flaw!" She announced.

"Really?" Annabeth asked. "Well, that's odd. Come out and I'll take another look."

Moment of truth. Arachne wriggled, trying to back up. The woven tunnel contracted around her and held her fast. She tried to wriggle forward, but the trap was already stuck to her abdomen. She couldn't get through that way either. Annabeth had been afraid the spider's barbed legs might puncture the silk, but Arachne's legs were pressed so tightly against her body she could barely move them.

"What…what is this?" She called. "I am stuck!"

"Ah," Annabeth said. "I forgot to tell you. This piece of art is called Chinese Handcuffs. At least, it's a larger variation on that idea. I call it Chinese Spidercuffs."

"Treachery!"

Arachne thrashed and rolled and squirmed, but the trap held her tight.

"It was a matter of survival," Annabeth corrected. "You were going to kill me either way, whether I helped you or not, yes?"

"Well of course! You're a child of Athena." The trap went still. "I mean…no, of course not! I respect my promises."

"Uh-huh." Annabeth stepped back as the braided cylinder began to thrash again. "Normally these traps are made from woven bamboo, but spider silk is even better. It will hold you fast, and it's much too strong to break - even for you."

"Gahhhh!"

Arachne rolled and wriggled, but Annabeth moved out of the way. Even with her broken ankle, she could manage to avoid a giant silk finger trap.

"I will destroy you!" Arachne promised. "I mean…no, I'll be very nice to you if you let me out."

"I'd save my energy if I were you." Annabeth took a deep breath, relaxing for the first time in hours. "I'm going to call my friends."

"You…you're going to call them about my artwork?" Arachne asked hopefully.

Annabeth scanned the room. There had to be a way to send an Iris-message to the Argo II. She had some water left in her bottle, but how to create enough light and mist to make a rainbow in a dark cavern? As it turns out, that wasn't necessary, as Curse suddenly jumped from Annabeth's shoulder, growing in size once more and taking her form again.

She looked up to the ceiling of the cavern, her eyes and mouth opened wide in a trance. " _They come! My mistress draws near!_ "

Arachne began to roll around again. "You're calling your friends to kill me!" She shrieked. "I will  _not_  die! Not like this!"

"Calm down," Annabeth said. "We'll let you live. We just want the statue."

"The statue?"

"Yes." Annabeth should've left it at that, but her fear was turning to anger and resentment. "The artwork that I'll display most prominently on Mount Olympus? It won't be yours. The Athena Parthenos belongs there - right in the central park of the gods."

"No! No, that's horrible!"

"Oh, it won't happen right away," Annabeth said. "First we'll take the statue to Greece. A prophecy told us it has the power to help defeat the giants. After that…well, we can't simply restore it to the Parthenon. That would raise too many questions. It'll be safer on Mount Olympus. It will unite the children of Athena and bring peace to the Romans and Greeks. Thanks for keeping it safe all these centuries. You've done Athena a great service."

Arachne screamed and flailed. A strand of silk shot from the monster's spinnerets and attached itself to a tapestry on the far wall. Arachne contracted her abdomen and blindly ripped away the weaving. She continued to roll, shooting silk randomly, pulling over brazier of magic fire and ripping tiles out of the floor. The chamber shook, and tapestries began to burn.

"Stop that!" Annabeth tried to hobble out of the way of the spider's silk. "You'll bring down the whole cavern and kill us both!"

"Better than seeing you win!" Arachne cried. "My children! Help me!"

Oh, great. Annabeth had hoped the statue's magic aura would keep away the little spiders, but Arachne continued shrieking, imploring them to help. Annabeth considered killing the spider woman to shut her up. It would be easy to use her knife now. But she hesitated to kill any monster when it was so helpless, even Arachne. Besides, if she stabbed through the braided silk, the trap might unravel. It was possible Arachne could break free before Annabeth could finish her off. All these thoughts came too late. Spiders began swarming into the chamber. The statue of Athena glowed brighter. The spiders clearly didn't want to approach, but they edged forward as if gathering their courage. Their mother was screaming for help. Eventually they would pour in, overwhelming Annabeth. Curse began spitting her fire at the spiders, and though she seemed to be renewed, it was evident that she wasn't going to be able to protect Annabeth from all sides forever.

Suddenly, the man that Annabeth had seen sitting above on the webbing jumped down to the ground, snatching up the webbing Arachne had shot out. His hands began to glow with an orange aura, which then spread down the webbing and caused Arachne to shout in pain.

"Stop that," He said monotonously, as though he didn't care, but he was reciting lines he had been told. "You'll bring down the whole cavern and kill us both."

Annabeth realized that he was reciting what she had said previously. She put together that he and the woman seemed to be empty shells, explaining their blank faces, frozen and unmoving positions, as though they were statues themselves.

The woman hopped nimbly from the spider webbing to the top of the Athena statue, before pulling a grenade from her bag and smashing it. Instantly, a gas started spreading from the statue - much more than that grenade should've been capable of, and it took over the entire cavern within seconds. It wasn't long before the gas began to disperse, but when it did, spiders began dropping dead from the cavern walls, and any that lived were retreating at full speed. As if a swarm of  _living_  spiders was bad enough a swarm of  _dead_ ones was even worse. Annabeth was on the verge of throwing up.

"What are you…?" Arachne began. "Why do you oppose me?! Send that child down to Tartarus and release me!"

"Stop that," He recited again. "You'll bring down the whole cavern and kill us both."

"Gaea has betrayed me?!"

"Stop that. You'll bring down the whole cavern and kill us both."

"Aargh! Curse that goddess!"

"You're…you're helping me?" Annabeth asked.

"You're helping me," He repeated.

"Why?"

"We shall follow our orders," The woman said, jumping down to join him. "'Do not allow her to reach Tartarus. Do not allow him to escape Tartarus.'"

"Who?"

"'Do not allow her to reach Tartarus. Do not allow him to escape Tartarus.'"

"Great, you can't speak either."

Somehow Arachne twisted in her prison, pointing her abdomen the sound of Annabeth's voice. A strand of silk hit her in the chest like a heavyweight's glove Annabeth fell, her leg flaring with pain. She slashed wildly at the webbing with her dagger as Arachne pulled her towards her snapping spinnerets. The man slashed at the webbing with a bow, slicing through the strand with ease and allowing Annabeth to crawl away, but the little spiders were returning. The woman pulled out another grenade, pulling the pin with her teeth and releasing it once more.

Annabeth didn't know what angle these two had. Arachne had cursed Gaea, meaning that these two had been sent by the earth goddess, but why would Gaea send them to help  _her?_  Maybe it was Gaea's pride, wanting Annabeth in particular of all demigods as the female of the two demigods she needed. But to have a female  _prevented_  from reaching Tartarus, but also a male  _needed_  to reach Tartarus?

As she pondered this thought, the chamber suddenly groaned, and the cavern ceiling exploded in a blast of fiery light.


	42. The Other Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh! I hate school! So much work! I can barely keep up with homework and have to give away all my precious FanFic writing hours to complete it all! And AP classes! I'm so stressed right now!
> 
> Luckily, writing makes me feel better. I have returned! I know I haven't been away that long in reality, but by my standards it's been ages.
> 
> Song: "The Other Side" by Ruelle
> 
> Kinda has a double meaning in the chapter, see if you can spot them both.
> 
> Seriously though, listen to this song before you read the chapter, or while you're reading the part where it comes in. It is amazing, and when I heard it, I knew it represented this moment perfectly.

First Person: Lucy

Now, I'd seen some crazy things in my time, so raining cars wasn't exactly high on my list of shocking surprises. As the roof of the cavern collapsed and the ground caved in, sunlight poured into the darkness below. Hedge had used the ballistae to blast a hole straight through the ground. Chunks of asphalt as big as garage doors tumbled down, along with six or seven Italian cars. One would've crushed the Athena Parthenos, but the statue's glowing aura acted like a force field, and the car bounced off. Unfortunately, it fell straight towards Annabeth, who was sitting in the cavern below, blinded by the sunlight and holding her arms over her head and eyes to protect herself from dust and rocks.

Luckily my Curse was fast to act, surging forward to wrap her misty body and aura around Annabeth protectively, causing the car to be deflected away from her, retaining its kinetic energy, and Annabeth opened her eyes just in time to see a bright red Fiat 500 slam into Arachne's silk trap, punching through the cavern floor and disappearing with the Chinese Spidercuffs. As Arachne fell, she screamed like a freight train on a collision course; but her wailing rapidly faded. All around Annabeth, more chunks of debris slammed through the floor, riddling it with holes.

The Athena Parthenos remained undamaged, though the marble under its pedestal was a starburst of fractures. Annabeth was covered in cobwebs, strands of left-over spider silk from her arms and legs like the strings of a marionette, but otherwise, she was unharmed. The army of spiders had disappeared, either fleeing back into the darkness or falling into the chasm. As daylight flooded the cavern, the tapestries along the walls crumbled to dust, but I caught a glimpse of one that depicted what looked to be Order and Chaos, as well as one that looked suspiciously like a bunch of children with Ward barcodes on the backs of their necks. They were gone before I could get a proper look, and I remembered that I had an important role here. Below was the cavern to Tartarus. It was time.

"Annabeth!" Percy called, leaning over the rail.

"Here!" She sobbed.

Kaze was the first off the Argo II, getting a running start as he hit the ground and rushed through the crumbling room with his speed. Veon drew his lance and hopped off next, Audrey summoning her trident and testing out her ability to float before then practicing her controls going forward and backwards. I pulled one of Percy's arm's over my shoulders and wrapped my arm around his waist before jumping over the railing with him, heading to Annabeth.

The room kept shaking, but Annabeth managed to stand, Curse's aura protecting her as best it could. I had rejuvenated the power to my Curse, upgrading her as a new test for the next versions that I'd send out onto the battlefield with the camps. Annabeth's backpack seemed to be missing, along with Daedalus's laptop, not to mention her knife that she said she'd had since she was seven, but at the very least she was alive. She edged closer to the gaping hole made by the Fiat 500 where Arachne had fallen through. Jagged rock walls plunged into the darkness as far as she could see, a few small strands jutting out here and there, but nothing on them - just strands of spider silk dripping over the sides like Christmas tinsel.

She wondered if Arachne had told the truth about the chasm. Had the spider really fallen all the way to Tartarus? She tried to feel satisfied with that idea, but it made her sad. Arachne  _had_  made some beautiful things. She'd already suffered for eons, and now her last tapestries had crumbled. After all that, falling into Tartarus seemed like too harsh an end. I considered that Arachne's intentions had never been pure, but she  _was_  a good weaver. If she had lost her pride and hubris, quite possibly she and Athena could've gotten along, Athena might have  _admired_  her, and maybe Arachne would've been known for more than just the spiders. As if my 10th grade English teacher needed any more reasons why hubris was one's downfall.

I dropped Percy beside Annabeth, and he surged forward, lacing his fingers in hers. He turned her gently away from the pit and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest and broke down into tears.

"It's okay," He said. "We're together."

He didn't say ' _you're okay_ ' or ' _we're alive,_ ' I noticed. After all that we went through in our lives, the most important thing was that they were together. Behind us, the Argo II dropped down a rope ladder for the others, while Audrey and Veon were using what powers they had over the earth - as the daughter of the earthquake god and the son of the god down under - to try and calm the tremors shaking the room. Kaze tried his best to stabilize the cavern, putting a rock here and there to put pressure on certain areas and keep the ground from slipping anymore. My curse dispersed from Annabeth, blowing out into the air to assist in her own way before she disappeared.

Everyone gathered around Percy and Annabeth. Annabeth didn't seem too surprised to see Nico, considering he had been in a jar last she heard, and he looked like a vampire raised from the dead who wasn't all that excited about it. The guy was in better condition than he could've been, but really, he was still a bit out of it. The healer in me couldn't help but want to help fix that - an urge, like when you saw someone with food on their face and it would be  _so_  easy just to reach over and fix the issue. I figured that Annabeth was too worn out to be surprised about it, or she wasn't surprised we'd saved him because she knew we were awesome like that.

"Your leg," I pointed out, kneeling and examining the Bubble Wrap cast. "Allow me to help."

I put my hand to her ankle and began sending my energy through. I wasn't at my strongest, so it wouldn't be a permanent fix, but at the very least I could speed up the healing process and put it into more of a recovery phase, setting the bone properly and healing it enough that it wouldn't jostle to give it a sort of head start.

"Oh, Annabeth, what  _happened?_ " Piper asked.

Curse had explained the entire story to me when she disappeared, so I focused more on healing Annabeth than listening to her story. She seemed to have trouble with her words at first, but managed to get out the story, becoming more at ease the more she spoke. Percy held her hand tight, which must've helped as well. When she finished, her friends' faces were slack with amazement.

"Gods of Olympus," Jason muttered. "You did all that alone. With a broken ankle."

"Well… _some_  of it with a broken ankle," She corrected. "And Curse was with me too."

Percy grinned. "You made Arachne weave her own trap? I knew you were good, but Holy Hera - Annabeth, you  _did_  it. Generations of Athena kids tried and failed. You found the Athena Parthenos!"

Everyone gazed at the statue.

"What do we do with her?" Frank asked. "She's huge."

"We'll have to take her with us to Greece," Annabeth said. "The statue is powerful. Something about it will help us stop the giants."

I wanted to protest that Athena's statue wasn't going to be of much use, but Hazel continued.

"' _Giants' bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail._ '" She looked at Annabeth with admiration. "It was Arachne's jail. You tricked her into weaving it."

With a  _lot_  of pain, I assumed.

"I thought about that," Annabeth admitted. "When the idea came to me, I figured it was worth a shot."

Leo raised his hands. He made a finger picture frame around the Athena Parthenos like he was taking measurements. "Well, it might take some rearranging, but I think we can fit her through the bay doors in the stable. If she sticks out the end, I might have to wrap a flag around her feet or something."

I imagined the Athena Parthenos jutting from the trireme with a sign across her pedestal that read:  **WIDE LOAD**.

"What about you guys?" Annabeth asked. "What happened with the giants?"

Percy told her about rescuing Nico, the appearance of Bacchus, and the fight with the twins in the Colosseum. Nico didn't say much, not that it was very surprising. The poor guy looked like he'd been wandering through a wasteland for six weeks. Percy explained what Nico had found out about the Doors of Death, and how they had to be closed on both sides. Even with the sunlight streaming in from above, Percy's news made the cavern seem dark again.

"So the mortal side is in Epirus," Annabeth concluded. "At least that's somewhere we can reach."

Nico grimaced. "But the other side is the problem. Tartarus."

The word seemed to echo through the chamber. The pit behind us exhaled a cold blast of air. I smelled the scent of Tartarus, an ancient darkness. But it was also refreshing, and I felt Order stirring within me, like a child being offered chocolate pancakes in the morning to be convinced into getting up.

" ** _Chaos is there. Bring him to me. Bring him back,_** " She urged, although her voice inside me sounded only half awake, like someone begging in their sleep.

Percy seemed to feel the dark and uneasy energy, because he guided Annabeth a little farther from the edge. Her arms and legs trailed spider silk like a bridal train. The OCD in me wanted to cut them free, but Percy interrupted my thoughts.

"Bacchus mentioned something about  _my_  voyage being harder than I expected. Not sure why-"

The chamber suddenly groaned. The Athena Parthenos tilted to one side, and Audrey was quick to fly over to it, catching the head with her trident, but she was trying to support a 40-foot statue. Kaze was quick to run up the walls and use some of Arachne's remaining spider webbing to connect to the statue and pull it from the other side, keeping Audrey from losing any ground - or air, I guess - and falling back from the weight, but she couldn't move forward, either. The marble foundation under the pedestal was crumbling, and Veon rushed over to help Audrey, pushing the statue back just a bit, but the ground beneath was giving way beneath. If the statue fell into the chasm, all of Annabeth's work would be for nothing. The quest would fail.

"Secure it!" Annabeth cried.

Everyone understood immediately.

"Zhang!" Leo cried. "Get me to the helm, quick! The coach is up there alone."

Frank transformed into a giant eagle, and the two of them soared towards the ship.

Jason wrapped his arm around Piper, turning to Percy. "Back for you guys in a sec."

He summoned the wind and shot into the air.

"The floor won't last!" Hazel warned. "The rest of us should get to the ladder."

"Come on!" Emily shouted. "We've made it this far! We get out of here and we're golden! We can do this!"

Plumes of dust and cobwebs blasted from the holes in the floor, the spider's silk support cables trembled like massive guitar strings and began to snap, while the tremors began to pick up once more, Audrey and Veon's distraction not allowing them any control. Even Kaze's quick fixes were beginning to crumble. Hazel lunged for the bottom of the rope ladder and gestured for Nico to follow, but Nico was in no condition to sprint. Emily took one of his arms over her shoulders and helped him forward.

Percy gripped Annabeth's hand tighter. "It'll be fine," He muttered.

Looking up, I saw grappling lines shoot from the Argo II and wrap around the statue, one lassoing Athena's neck like a noose. Leo shouted orders from the helm as Jason and Frank flew frantically from like to line, trying to secure them, while Audrey, Kaze, and Veon held the statue steady while they did.

I turned back to the chasm that led down into Tartarus. I had to throw Veon down there, didn't I? He'd be down there alone, confused, terrified, with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and he won't understand what he's supposed to do. He won't know how to escape, he won't know what he's fighting. All he  _will_  know…is that I was the one who left him there. And that scared me. That hurt to think about. It hurt to think that he would hate me, that he wouldn't understand why I did what I did. And I didn't want to think about him alone down there - alone down there because of me.

It was time. I thought I'd be ready when this moment came. But it was only now, the moment the opportunity was right in front of me, that I allowed myself to feel my doubt. So I did what I always did when I was conflicted about things. I chose, and I acted before I could stop myself.

"Get going to the ladder," I ordered Percy and Annabeth. "I'm too worn out to fly you."

Percy nodded and began to walk forward, pulling Annabeth's hand in his. She looked fully ready to follow him, but she suddenly gasped and stopped.

"What is it?" Percy asked.

She tried to stagger towards the ladder. She didn't understand why she was moving backwards instead. Her legs swept out from under her and she fell on her face.

"Her ankle!" Hazel shouted from the ladder. "Cut it! Cut it!"

No one seemed to understand what she meant. Cut her ankle? Something yanked Annabeth backward and dragged her toward the pit. Percy lunged and grabbed her arm, but the momentum carried him along as well. The spider silk, loose lines that seemed innocent enough, but there was one strand wrapped around her foot - and the other end went straight into the pit. It was attached to something heavy down in the darkness, something that was pulling her in. I lunged with my bow to strike the spider silk, but was suddenly knocked back by a strong punch to the gut.

"Do not allow her to reach Tartarus. Do not allow him to escape Tartarus."

I internally flinched upon hearing that voice. It was robotic, deep and monotonous, but it was a voice I promised never to forget. My stomach ached, and I could barely move from the attack, but I could open my eyes and see my father's reanimation walking towards me. It wasn't him, I knew. I was so angry when I first saw what Gaea had done, stealing his form like that, defiling it into that  _thing_. But I was out of anger. I could only feel sadness. Was his soul trapped somewhere along with the darkness she'd placed, or was he in the Underworld? Veon had once done some digging, said that my father was scheduled to go to Elysium, but that he had gone and searched but couldn't find him. Elysium was big, he explained, and finding one person in a sea of thousands of years worth of demigod heroes wasn't an easy task. But perhaps he was gone. He was here.

I worked on healing the pain in my stomach, while Kaze charged up, leaving the statue to the others, and charging like a missile into my father, sending him back and causing the floor to crumble as he kept his feet upon the cracking ground to stay on his feet. Nico was hobbling in their direction, Hazel trying to detangle her cavalry sword from the rope ladder. Everyone else was working to secure the statue, and Hazel was crying desperately for anyone to hear her shouts.

Veon noticed, shouting something to Audrey before suddenly releasing the weight of the statue onto her alone and using his lance to soar towards Percy and Annabeth. She hadn't fully processed what he'd said or where he was going before she suddenly turned her attention back to the statue, now lurching from the lack of support. Annabeth sobbed as she hit the edge of the pit, her legs slipping over the side. Percy couldn't reach Riptide without letting go of Annabeth's arm, and Annabeth's strength was gone. As she slipped over the edge, Percy fell with her.

Veon made it to the edge of the pit at full speed, but as he slowed to turn his direction vertical, his lance was suddenly ripped from his grip, twisted to shove the shaft into his chin and then into his gut. His hands were off the lance before he could realize what was happening, and without it, he began to plummet, caught off guard by the attack and with no reaction time to grab onto anything. Tsuchi's reanimation hovered higher above him, the lance in her hand and held slightly behind her in an elegant battle pose. She kicked his right arm as he fell, aiming to kick him further from the edge of the chasm, but Kaze suddenly jumped up to land on her shoulder, causing her balance in the air to be disrupted for milliseconds. She still kicked Veon's arm, most likely popping his elbow in the wrong direction based on his scream of pain, but she instead kicked him closer to the edge than away from it. Right after, my father's reanimation - Kandai - came soaring in their direction, and Kaze jumped off of Tsuchi at the last second, causing him to tackle her back, the lance dropping from her grip and into the pit below.

Bless my brother, really.

I lunged without thinking. I dived nearly past a proper leverage angle, but managed to grab his hand, gripping it tightly as his direction suddenly changed and he hit the wall of the pit with a grunt. I barely had my hips at the edge of the chasm, my other arm shaking as it tried to keep me from slipping any further at the angle I was trying to stabilize myself at. I should've let him drop, I knew. But I didn't want to let him fall. I was filled with dread at the idea of him falling.

A distance away, Percy had managed to grab a ledge about fifteen feet below the top of the chasm. He was holding on with one hand, gripping Annabeth's wrist with the other, but the pull on her leg was much too strong. He was barely holding on to a ledge the size of a bookshelf. Nico leaned over the edge of the chasm, thrusting out his hand, but he was much too far away to help. Hazel was yelling for the others, but even if they heard her over all the chaos, they'd never make it in time. Kaze was busy trying to avoid the two reanimations at once, and he was pushing himself to remain faster than them, since he was constantly having to change his direction, which in turn forced him to slow down from time to time, and the act of coming to a dead stop and starting up again was keeping him on edge, especially with two reanimations nearly as fast as him trying to crush him. They had no anger at his tricking them into running into each other, but they understood he was standing in the way of their goal - a mission from Gaea, no doubt: to send Veon to Tartarus and have him be the vessel for the pit instead of Chaos.

Veon was going to have two Primordial beings trying to possess his body at once; the strain would be terrible on him. The force of the Underworld tugged at us like dark gravity. The darkness wanted him, and it was grabbing onto Annabeth and Percy as well for just being in the vicinity. Arachne's webbing hadn't grabbed Annabeth until she tried to escape the pit. The webbing would've broken otherwise, but Tartarus must've realized an easy was to get Veon close enough to fall would be to lure him to the rescue of his friends - and to add insult to injury, he'd let them fall too. And now, they were too far down to be saved.

"Percy, let me go," Annabeth croaked. "You can't pull me up."

His face was white with effort. He knew it was hopeless. "Never," He said. He looked up at Nico, fifteen feet above. "The other side, Nico! We'll see you there. Understand?"

Nico's eyes widened. "But-"

"Lead them there!" Percy shouted. "Promise me!"

"No…" Veon muttered. "No, don't make me do this…"

It took me a moment to realize that he wasn't begging for himself. He was begging from Nico's perspective through their soul bond.

"I…I will," Nico said painfully.

Below, a voice seemed to laugh in the darkness. ' _Sacrifices. Beautiful sacrifices to wake the goddess._ '

Percy tightened his grip on Annabeth's wrist. His face was gaunt, scraped and bloody, his hair dusted with cobwebs, but Annabeth looked to him like he was the most handsome he'd ever been.

"We're staying together," He promised. "You're not getting away from me. Never again."

A one-way trip. A very hard fall. Annabeth realized what he was saying.

"As long as we're together," She said.

 _I don't want to know_  
 _Who we are_  
 _Without each other_.

Nico and Hazel were still screaming for help. She saw the sunlight far, far above - maybe the last sunlight she would ever see.

 _It's just too hard_.  
 _I don't want to leave_  
 _Here without you_.

Percy let go of his tiny ledge, and together, holding hands, he and Annabeth fell into the endless darkness.

_I don't want to lose_   
_Part of me_   
_Will I recover_   
_That broken piece?_

"No!" Veon shouted.

He lurched in their direction, almost as though he thought he could reach them. The movement disturbed his injured arm, not to mention causing me to slip. I had seen this scene before. Sure, it had been a little different. Initially, it was Audrey and Emily who had grabbed him first and then I came in and took over to drop him. But I had changed fate already. Now, who could say what the future would be? I had already changed this critical moment. What would happen if I continued to change it?

I had to let him go.

 _Let it go and unleash_  
 _All the feelings_.

"I'm sorry," I sobbed.

"No!" He shouted. "No, Lucy, please!"

He hadn't called me that for so long. The name was almost forgotten. He wasn't talking to the goddess. He wasn't talking to the girl possessed by and hosting one. He was talking to  _me_. His best friend. His - quite terrible, if we're being honest - girlfriend. The person who had grabbed him before he fell. The person who couldn't bring themself to let go yet.

_Did we ever see it coming?_   
_Will we ever let it go?_

"Please! Don't-!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Lucy! Lucy, please don't let her make you do this!"

"I have no choice."

"You have every choice! There is no such thing as not having a choice!"

"You don't understand! When you do, you'll see the choice that I'm making and why."

 _We are buried in broken dreams_  
 _We are knee deep without a plea_.

His grip tightened, but he couldn't move his other arm to pull himself up or grab my wrist to prevent me from dropping him. His grip almost seemed to be from a flinch. He knew not to argue any further. He'd seen this happen too. And then, his grip relaxed, as though he was giving up.

And that's when I pulled. I got a proper grip on my knees, before using my other hand to pull his wrist and lug him up and out. He was heavy - not to mention the extra gravity of Tartarus trying to pull him down - but for me, desperate times were when I made miracles happen. And I pulled him out of the pit. I pulled him away from it, a good ten feet.

 _I don't want to know_  
 _What it's like_  
 _To live without you_.

I popped his elbow back into place and he screamed, before he regained his composure, looking to me in shock, breathing hard.

"What did you…?"

"I…"

And just like that, he was kissing me. He didn't move his injured arm, I suspected because it was numb, but he used his other hand to cup my face. It didn't last long, mostly because he was breathing so hard and needed more oxygen than normal, and because I was sobbing.

Maybe it was because I was relieved. Or maybe it was because I was afraid of what came next.

 _Don't want to know_  
 _The other side_  
 _Of a world without you_.

I pulled him to his feet. I slipped my hand to his neck, before pulling at a cord and revealing a necklace similar to mine, only this gem was pure black. I ripped it from his neck easily, tugging my own off as well. The gems of Order and Chaos.

 _Is it fair_  
 _Or is it fate?_  
 _No one knows_  
 _The stars choose their lovers_  
 _Save my soul_.

"We do this  _our_  way," I declared.

And I blinked away more tears, but my vision was still blurry. Veon rested his hand on mine, the one gripping the gem for Order. I put my other hand, still fisted with the Chaos gem, atop his, before slowly flipping our hands, and releasing the gem into his palm.

 _It hurts_  
 _Just the same_  
 _And I can't tear myself away_.

"I won't let them die. I'll protect them. We'll make it, okay? Tell Nico we'll be okay."

_Did we ever see it coming?_   
_Will we ever let it go?_

"Tell Kaze I  _will_  keep my promise."

"Wha-?"

I shoved the gem in his palm so that he was holding it up against his chest, and it exploded with white light. Once the light vanished, he was gone.

 _We are buried in broken dreams_  
 _We are knee deep without a plea_.

I put the black gem to my chest and felt it pulse, the energy bursting through me.

" ** _I will do it! I will save you! Chaos! Answer me!_** "

_I don't want to know_   
_What it's like_   
_To live without you_

_Don't want to know_  
 _The other side_  
 _Of a world without you_.

The gem pulsed, and I knew I had my response. I threw out my hands, sending electricity throughout the rocks in key places, making sure that once the others got clear, this path to Tartarus would be buried and sealed closed.

 _We are buried in broken dreams_  
 _We are knee deep without a plea_.

I sprinted to the pit once more, jumping and diving head first into the darkness to rescue Percy, Annabeth, and Primordial Chaos.

_I don't want to know_   
_What it's like_   
_To live without you_

_Don't want to know_   
_The other side_   
_Of a world without you_

_Can't live without you_.


	43. What We Could've Done, What We Must Do

First Person: Zytaveon

Everyone was still in shock.

I had awoken on the floor of my room on the Argo II. By then, we were already on our way, leaving the path to Tartarus behind. The others had secured grappling lines to the Athena Parthenos just as the floor gave way and the final columns of webbing snapped. Jason, Frank, and Audrey had dove down to save the others, but they'd only found Nico and Hazel hanging from the rope ladder, struggling to hold onto Kaze, who'd been knocked out, the reanimations nowhere to be seen. All of them were gone. The pit to Tartarus had been buried under several tons of debris, and Leo had pulled the Argo II out of the cavern seconds before the entire place imploded, green lighting surging through the rocks to bring it all down, taking the rest of the parking lot with it.

The Argo II was now parked on a hill overlooking the city. Audrey had found me passed out in my room, and I was frantic. She, Jason, Hazel, and Frank had all joined me in returning to the scene of the catastrophe, hoping to dig through the rubble and find a way to save them, but we only came back demoralized. The cavern was simply gone. I had a feeling that Zy - Lucy - had made it that way before she jumped, made sure no one could come after her. The scene was swarming with police and rescue workers. No mortals had been hurt, but the Italians would be scratching their heads for months, wondering how a massive sinkhole had opened right in the middle of a parking lot and swallowed a dozen perfectly good cars.

Dazed with grief, we carefully loaded the Athena Parthenos into the hold, using the ship's hydraulic winches with an assist from Frank Zhang, part-time elephant, Kaze Grigora, resident super-strong blur of doom, and Audrey Mavepo and her trusty trident. My lance had been dropped into Tartarus when Kaze had saved me from his mom's reanimation, and I could only hope that Lucy would have it to help her, that it would allow her to use its power, and that it even worked while in Tartarus. The statue just fit, though what we were going to do with it, I had no idea, nor did I care too much at the moment.

Coach Hedge was too miserable to help, pacing the deck with tears in his eyes, pulling at his goatee, and slapping the side of his head, muttering, "I should have saved them! I should have blown up more stuff!"

Finally, Leo told him to go below deck and secure everything for departure. He wasn't doing any good beating himself up. Emily was trying to stay hopeful, believing that they'd be fine, having courage in them, and it was pretty much all she could do to keep us all from falling into a suicidal depression from all of the gloom and regret. I had a feeling she could've done much more with her powers and how much they'd grown, but I also remembered the incident from Medea's shop where she realized too much meddling in people's emotions and forbidding them to grieve, feel these painful emotions, would be more detrimental than we all realize, and it was just wrong. We shouldn't be uncaring about such an event, we shouldn't be able to brush it off easily and continue like we aren't all scarred.

I just stood on the quarterdeck, gazing at the distant column of dust still rising from the site of the implosion. I'd tried listening to music. I ended up throwing my iPod and earbuds off the side of the ship. They had been gifts from Zy - demigod-proof. It just made things worse. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't stop the crushing feeling in my chest. I couldn't help feeling like what I'd said was what made her take my place. She had reasons that I needed to fall, but decided those reasons weren't worth dropping me. And she'd taken my place instead. If what she'd said before was true, about me being the worthy host for Chaos -  _the_ Primordial Chaos - then I could only imagine what pain she was taking in my place to host him instead. Was it even possible for both Primordial Order  _and_  Primordial Chaos to be within the same body without destroying it, or at the very least, the human soul within it?

Something was still bugging me, though. I had had all these dreams about hosting  _something_ , and it was evil, yes, but I had always believed it was  _Tartarus_  before she'd brought up Chaos. I didn't even know that Zyanya was just an alias for Primordial Order. Sure, I wasn't one to go judging gods, let alone Primordials that I have no experience with before, but I was  _sure_  that was Tartarus. Getting to the problem of him wanting a human form to come to the surface later, I realized that meant that  _both_  Chaos  _and_  Tartarus wanted a host to escape the pit. And both of them were now going to be trying to use her to do it. Did she need to give permission? I doubted it. But would she be caught in the crossfire between them? Almost certainly yes.

The other demigods had gathered on the quarterdeck behind me, but I ignored them. I saw Leo out of the corner of my eye, resting his hand on the Archimedes sphere that he'd recovered from that place they'd faced the Eidolons, which was ready to be installed. I knew that Leo would normally be geeking out on us, excited about the biggest discovery of his life - even bigger than Bunker 9. If he could decipher Archimedes's scrolls, he could do amazing things, and maybe even build a new control disk for a certain dragon friend. Still, the price had been too high. He had used Nemesis's fortune cookie to activate the sphere, and in turn, perhaps this was the punishment for it. He'd saved Frank and Hazel, but the sacrifice had been Percy and Annabeth. Leo seemed sure of it.

"It's my fault," Leo said miserably.

The others stared at him.

"Leo, don't," Emily said.

"No," Hazel insisted. "No, this is  _Gaea's_  fault. It had nothing to do with you."

Leo didn't seem convinced. We'd started this voyage with Leo firing on New Rome, and ended in old Rome with Leo breaking a cookie and paying a price much worse than an eye. The guilt was no doubt crushing.

"Leo, listen to me." Hazel gripped his hand. "I won't allow you to take the blame. I couldn't bear that after…after Sammy…"

She choked up, but I knew what she meant. Leo's bisabuelo had blamed himself for Hazel's disappearance. Sammy had lived a good life, but he'd gone to his grave believing that he'd spent a cursed diamond and doomed the girl he loved. Leo obviously didn't want to make Hazel miserable all over again, but there was no denying the facts. Hazel's gems had always been cursed, especially back when she didn't know much about her powers, and Leo's fortune cookie had come with the warning ' _True success requires sacrifice_.' Sammy had sold his diamond, Leo had broken his fortune cookie. They both tempted fate, and bad things happened because of it. One could argue all they wanted how the events weren't connected, but it seemed the Valdez family had a curse upon them.

Nico shuffled over, leaning on his black sword. "Leo, they're not dead. If they were, I could feel it."

"How can you be sure?" Leo asked. "If that pit really led to…you know…how could you sense them so far away?"

Nico, Hazel and I shared glances, comparing notes on our Hades/Pluto death radar. Nico and I were in agreement that neither of us felt anything, and Hazel wasn't very good at the whole death sensing as she was her gem powers, but she looked to the two of us for confirmation that she was right in assuming we hadn't felt them die yet.

"We can't be one hundred percent sure," Hazel admitted. "But I think Nico is right. They're still alive…at least, so far."

"Lu went down there," I said. "She promised she'd protect them one way or another, I'd say she has a shot at keeping them safe. And if she succeeds in getting Chaos's power, surely they'll be okay. Even if it…should've been me who had to take that risk. She also said she'd keep her promise to Kaze."

At the mention of his name, Kaze looked up. He was sitting with his head down, away from the group. " _What?_ "

" _Rei said she promised you something, said that she'd keep her promise, before she…left._ "

His head dropped again. " _I made her promise to come back. To…to fight whatever fights she had to and then…come back to me. Then we'd…we'd leave all of this. We could run away. Maybe we'd never stop fighting, but at the very least would be who we wanted for once. We wouldn't let the gods rule our lives. I want that life. I want things to be the way they were before. And she said she'd try. For me._ "

"He says she promised to come back. To win this war, to fight all these fights and whatnot, and then come back. Go out and leave this life to the best of their abilities. Live their lives how they want to. By their own terms. Lu promised she'd come back, she'd survive. That's what she was saying. And that she'd bring Percy and Annabeth home safely as well."

Jason sighed before pounding his fist against the rail. "I should've been  _paying attention_. I could have flown down and saved them."

"Me, too," Frank moaned.

The big dude looked on the verge of tears.

Piper put her hand on Jason's back. "It's not your fault, either of you. You were trying to save the statue."

"She's right," Nico said. "Even if the pit hadn't been buried, you couldn't have flown into it without being pulled down. I'm the only one who has actually been to Tartarus, Veon a close second if we're being technical. It's impossible to describe how powerful that place is. Once you get close, it sucks you in. I never stood a chance."

Frank sniffled. "Then Percy and Annabeth don't stand a chance either?"

Nico twisted his silver skull ring. "Percy is the most powerful demigod I've met. No offense to you guys, but it's true. If anybody can survive hell, he will, especially if he's got Annabeth at his side. They're going to find a way through Tartarus."

Jason turned. "To the Doors of Death, you mean. But you told us it's guarded by Gaea's most powerful forces. How could two demigods possibly-?"

"I don't know. But like Veon said. Zy - or Lu, or whatever - she's helping them. Percy told me to lead you guys to Epirus, to the mortal side of the doorway. He's planning on meeting us there. If we can survive the House of Hades, fight our way through Gaea's forces, then maybe we can work together with Percy, Annabeth, and Lu and seal the Doors of Death from both sides."

"And get Zy, Percy, and Annabeth back safely?" Leo asked.

"Maybe."

The way Nico said that evidently gave away to the close viewer that he wasn't sharing all his doubts, but did they really need to be shared? Everyone knew the risks, the dangers, and the simple fact that if you wanted to close a door from both sides, someone would have to stay on the other side, trapped in the Underworld. And I knew Lu. She'd push Percy and Annabeth through the doors so they could be reunited with the other five demigods of the prophecy, and she'd sacrifice herself, staying down there and saying she could survive because of Chaos's powers or something, maybe even Tartarus's, if she had enough will-power to gain control for long enough - and if I knew her, she'd pull it off.

"I tried to save them and Lu had to save me," I muttered. "Now she's…"

"She chose to go and try to recover Chaos's power," Audrey pointed out. "I mean, think about it. If she can pull this off, we might actually be able to make it through all this. She'll be able to save Percy and Annabeth, close the doors, and heck, even stop Gaea and the giants all in one fell swoop."

"But it  _should've been me!_  Why didn't she just  _tell_  me?!"

"Maybe your ignorance was part of the equation," Emily pointed out. "To test you without your knowledge getting in the way. Seeing what you'd do when you were clueless."

"So what does that means for her if  _she_  already  _knows?_ "

Emily looked down, but I knew that she understood the chance that her going in my place meant she wasn't compatible to gain Chaos's power. And if she couldn't get that power, she, Percy, and Annabeth might all be doomed.

Nico took a deep breath. "I don't know how they'll do it, but one way or another, whatever happens, they'll find a way. They'll journey through Tartarus and find the Doors of Death. When they do, we have to be ready."

"It won't be easy," Hazel said. "Gaea will throw everything she's got at us to keep us from reaching Epirus."

"What else is new?" Jason sighed.

"We have to do our part," Emily said. "Lu, Percy, and Annabeth have a much harder task, but they are going to be fighting harder than ever to make sure they don't let us down. But it works in reverse too. They are going to be risking everything while they're down there, meaning we can't let them down either."

Piper nodded. "We've got no choice. We have to seal the Doors of Death before we can stop the giants from raising Gaea. Otherwise her armies will never die. And we've got to hurry. The Romans are in New York. Soon, they'll be marching on Camp Half-Blood. And with Zy out of commission…"

"Her Curses might not have made it to help," I summarized.

"Or maybe they did," Emily pointed out. "They're Curses given to her from a power that has the ability to change prophecies and visions of the future. Who knows how far their power can go? In any case, it's up to us to move quickly and seal those doors."

"We've got one month at best," Jason added. "Ephialtes said Gaea would awaken in exactly one month."

"What would a quest be without deadlines?" Audrey muttered.

Leo straightened. "We can do it."

Everyone stared at him.

"The Archimedes sphere can upgrade the ship. I'm going to study those ancient scrolls we got. There's gotta be all kinds of new weapons I can make. We're going to hit Gaea's armies with a whole new arsenal of hurt."

"That's the spirit," Emily nodded.

At the prow of the ship, Festus creaked his jaw and blew fire defiantly.

Jason managed a smile, clapping Leon on the shoulder. "Sounds like a plan, Admiral. You want to set the course?"

We kidded with him, calling him Admiral, but for once, it seemed Leo was happy to accept the title. This was his ship. He hadn't come this far to be stopped. We'd find the House of Hades, we take the Doors of Death, and by the gods, we would do anything to get back our friends. If Leo had to design a grabber arm long enough to snatch them out of Tartarus, then that's what he'd do. Nemesis said to wreak vengeance on Gaea? I think we were all going to be happy to oblige.

"Yeah," Leo said, taking one last look at the cityscape of Rome, turning blood-red in the sunset. "Festus, raise the sails. We've got some friends to save."


	44. Reprisal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Fireworks* *Explosions*
> 
> I am done with Mark Of Athena! Oh, my gosh, this took longer than I expected, but man, it feels good to have finally made it through all of that. And the House of Hades story shall be up soon, pals!
> 
> Review! Enjoy! All that jazz!
> 
> :)

Third Person: Zytaveon

That night, Veon couldn't sleep.

It had taken some time, but he'd finally convinced Nico to rest, and once his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light. Veon, on the other hand, couldn't calm his mind enough to rest.

All he could think about were his regrets, the dread of the future to come, and all that stood between him and getting Lu back. Zyanya was gone. From now on, Lucy would be Lucy again. At least, that's how he saw it. He needed to get his best friend back. He could finally see Kaze's point of view on the matter, how she was so willing to turn against everything she wanted to please her goddess. But he knew, in the back of his mind, that she didn't have many options. Closing the Doors wasn't an easy task, and getting the power of Chaos would help immensely, not to mention when Percy and Annabeth fell, they needed that power, even more, to help the two demigods survive.

He gripped his pillow angrily. But it should've been  _him_.

He wasn't sure when he fell asleep. All he knew was that his mind was wandering throughout the scenarios that might've turned out differently, that he was mentally torturing himself as his brain refused to settle down, and then his thoughts began to drift away as he passed out from exhaustion.

He saw the landscape of Tartarus, although it wasn't like one of those previous visions where he was actually there, feeling the air and ground. It looked more like a movie playing in front of him, instead. He saw his lance suddenly plunge from the top of the screen, digging itself into the ground with a thud and a bit of ringing as it pierced the glassy ground. Moments later, a person came flying down beside it. They hit the ground hard, sending earth flying, but the lance remained in place, embedded in the ground. When the dust settled, he saw that it was himself.

The vision of him pushed himself up from the ground with one arm, his other bent at a painful angle. He was covered in cuts and blood, one of his eyes swollen shut - as that was the side he'd landed on, no doubt - his clothes were torn, he was struggling to breathe, and his skin was turning an unnatural poisonous color. He barely managed to move, his one arm trembling from holding the weight of him up, and then dragging himself forward towards his lance. He coughed up blood as he moved, but considering he should've been dead from the impact alone, he was actually in good condition by comparison. He climbed out of the crater he'd made, reaching his lance that was just outside the edges of it. He took it in his hand, pulling hard with his weak and single arm, before it slowly lifted from the ground. He then used it as a sort of walking - or crawling - cane, stabbing it into the ground to pull himself forward. He made it to a small clumping of rocks before sitting with his back against them, too tired to do anything else, and his lance dropping to the ground beside him. His heavy breaths ragged, he passed out against the rocks, sure he was going to die any second.

And then, a pair of Titans came walking up. They stopped in front of him and began arguing, but Veon couldn't hear what they were saying. Then, one of them reared back a fist and punched down the Veon in the dream, knocking him to the side with a heavy right hook to the head. He coughed up blood, but couldn't move as he was stomped on and kicked by the two monsters, laughing with glee. And once they were done, they dragged him off by his arm deeper into the hellish wasteland.

Veon remembered this. He'd been in that position in his dream once, long ago, back in Camp Half-Blood when he'd first arrived and been claimed by his father. He stomped back to his cabin, pondered the fate of the prophecy he'd been given, and then he'd seen this in his dream. But before he could see where the Titans were taking him, the scene began to flicker. He saw images of what had just happened, him being beaten up, him crawling across the ground with his lance, him barely managing to pull himself out of the crater he'd made, him picking himself up right after he'd hit the ground, and then the image of the lance falling from the sky, embedding itself in the ground.

The scene was restarting, Veon realized.

But this time, when the person came crashing to the ground, another blur was flying off in another direction, falling towards a river in the distance. Veon was  _sure_  that hadn't happened the first time. But he didn't have time to ponder things as he saw that this time, the person who'd fallen and made the crater next to his lance wasn't him, it was Lu. She had similar injuries to him, except her arm wasn't twisted in the wrong direction - and he realized that arm-twisting was something she'd fixed after Tsuchi had kicked his elbow to snap it in the wrong direction. There  _was_  a distinct injury that Veon noticed was in place of his arm. On her chest, her shirt had a hole burnt through it just about an inch below the base of her neck, and inside, a pure black oval gem was literally  _burnt_  into her skin. Her skin had scarred around it, as though it was trying to consume the thing, as though it had been there for a long time, like it was  _meant_  to be there. It was the same gem that she'd taken from him. The same one that she had previously given.

She struggled her way up and out of the crater, although she had two arms to work with instead of just one, and when she came to the top, she seemed surprised to see that Veon's lance was there. She was hesitant to reach out for it, but grabbed it and struggled to release it from the ground just as he had done previously, albeit she took much less time and effort with her extra arm over him. She was able to stand using the lance, but ultimately had to use it like a cane just as he had, hobbling her way over to the same rock that Veon had rested against. She slumped where he had sat, dropping the lance in the same position as well. Everything was playing out nearly identical, even with the differences scattered about.

Then, Veon remembered what happened next. As the two Titans came stomping up, Lu was still conscious, and looked to them in expectancy. She was breathing in the toxic air just as easily as Veon had - that is, not very easily at all - and she was in no position to resist. The two of them argued once more, but this time, they seemed more distressed, probably expecting Veon and not her. Finally, they seemed to come to an agreement that they would have to take her instead. But when the first Titan walked up and was readying to punch her like he had Veon, she closed her eyes, her face scrunched with painful concentration, and just before the blow landed, her eyes opened to reveal they were pure and completely jet black. Veon only saw them for a split second, but he knew that there was power within them, a dark, terrifying, and all-consuming power.

And then, his vision cut out, and he gasped to realize he was awake again, sitting in his bed. He looked over to see Nico was still sleeping. Luckily, he had a queen-sized bed, and so there was plenty of room for the two of them (they were brothers, sleeping in the same bed wasn't  _that_  weird, pervs!), but he worried that his sudden awakening had aroused his brother. Nico was a light sleeper, he knew. But Nico seemed far too exhausted after everything that had happened and was actually getting a night's worth.

Veon sighed, but knew he wasn't going to get to sleep anytime soon. Curiosity gripped him from something he'd seen in the dream. Having nothing better to do, he crept to the bathroom and closed the door before flipping on the light switch. He looked to himself in the mirror. When he'd woken up in his room, his shirt hadn't been affected, but now, he pushed his fingers gently against his chest, right about where he assumed it would be, and was surprised when he felt a numbing pain jab him. For a moment, it felt like he couldn't breathe, as the pain was right where his trachea would be and it numbed that entire area with overwhelming agony.

As he regained his bearings, slowly but surely, he lifted his shirt off carefully to see that the white gem that Lu had slammed into his chest when she'd teleported him back to the ship was now freshly embedded in his skin. The skin was raw around it, not like it had been for her in the dream, but even though he could breathe again and the pain had lessened, he still felt like he was suffocating. Before, she had just given him a necklace, she had worn a necklace herself. Why did the gems have to be literally  _embedded in their chests_ now?!

He had no idea what these things were, but if they were related to the goddess and her husband - Order and Chaos, he now knew - then that means she just gave him Order's gem and took Chaos's gem for herself, since he was supposed to have taken Chaos previously. That's why she had given the black one to him before. He should've guessed there was something else. And yet he still accepted it. He couldn't fathom why, but maybe there was an outside influence that made him do it. Yet now they were switched. Did that mean…?

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw a light flashing bright through the mirror. He turned to the small window in the bathroom to see as it popped open and a snake of white glowing smoke trailed inside. Before Veon could even think of running, it surged up to him, and forced its way into his mouth. Everything went white for a moment, and it felt like someone was forcing a stream of cold, thick, heavy air down his mouth and nose at the same time, as though he was taking a deep breath, but he couldn't stop and was going to overload on air. It had a similar effect, making him feel like he'd gotten too much oxygen to his brain, and he passed out.

When he woke, the first thing he saw was a white blur. As his eyes adjusted, he saw that he was sideways, and the blur formed into two legs, wearing white combat boots and white jeans. He pushed himself so that he was resting on his arm and was vertical once more, before looking up to see who was standing above him. In the end, he saw that it was his own face. Sort of.

He was dressed in a pure white version of Veon's regular outfit, and though it was no doubt him that he was looking at, his face seemed different somehow. It was more ethereal, a sharp handsomeness that looked good at one moment, but also downright frightening at the same time. His features were more defined, like an older version of Veon, and he was standing with his arms crossed, looking down at the demigod as though he had been waiting patiently for him to wake up. And he looked pissed.

" _Do you know what you've done?!_ " He spat.


End file.
